This 18-minute short film from 15 years ago is basically two films in one. Each runs for 9 minutes and focuses on different aspects of the Christmas holidays and in both sections the Pokemon get left alone at the beginning by Ash, Misty and Rocco and collected at the end again. I preferred the first film. It's a charming little tale on how the Pokemon discover Christmas trees, Christmas music and the whole ambiance in their very own ways. Of course, they're as carefree as always, so Pikachu has a rough time keeping the damage low and he sure needs all his training to keep that brightly decorated tree from falling.
The second section is really more a winter journey than a Christmas film, which is good, because you can easily show this one to your children also in January or probably any other time of the year and it won't miss its effect. I've seen some Pokemon episodes quite some time ago and my favorites were always more the parts where they communicate with each other or find new Pokemon and not really the fight sequences. Maybe that's why I liked this short as much as I did. As it's set in the harmony of the Christmas holidays, there's no fighting involved this time. I also like that, of course judging from the date, this has basically only Pokemon from the very early days and I know they've added hundreds over the years, which just doesn't captivate my interest. "Pikachu's Winter Vacation" is a decent little short-film and I recommend it to those who are young and those who are still young at heart.
The second section is really more a winter journey than a Christmas film, which is good, because you can easily show this one to your children also in January or probably any other time of the year and it won't miss its effect. I've seen some Pokemon episodes quite some time ago and my favorites were always more the parts where they communicate with each other or find new Pokemon and not really the fight sequences. Maybe that's why I liked this short as much as I did. As it's set in the harmony of the Christmas holidays, there's no fighting involved this time. I also like that, of course judging from the date, this has basically only Pokemon from the very early days and I know they've added hundreds over the years, which just doesn't captivate my interest. "Pikachu's Winter Vacation" is a decent little short-film and I recommend it to those who are young and those who are still young at heart.