Intrada Soundtrack Forum

The first three Pokemon movies had their scores re-composed by Ralph Schuckett and John Loeffler, and I think it would be great if they got expanded/complete releases. "Mewtwo Strikes Back" and "2000" both had score albums released by KOCH Records, but only the former is available on iTunes. The other is much more rare, since it was only bundled with a compilation of songs from the TV show. The third movie never got a full official release - just a medley track on the aforementioned compilation soundtrack and that's it.

Pokemon has a large fanbase, and those who know of the films' music would be eager to listen to the full scores. Nostagia aside, they have grand orchestral scores, with more electronics elements as the series progresses. Each film has their highlights. The first movie boasts Mewtwo's forboding theme, the music during the clones' battles, and the "tears of life" segment. For "2000", the music during Lawrence III's capture of Moltres, when Zapdos and Articuno make their respective first appearances, and "The Legend Comes To Life", which plays close to the end of the movie and is included on the score album and soundtrack album. The third movie, "Spell of the Unown", is the most electonic score, but still has compelling moments, such as when Molly first releases the Unown and summons Entei, Misty and Molly's underwater battle, and close to the end when Entei breaks the Unown's barrier.

The timing couldn't be better for a complete release of these scores. The "Detective Pikachu" movie is set to release this summer, with a sequel already planned. Also, the next Japanese-produced Pokemon movie appears to be a CGI remake of the first movie. And finally, it is the 20th anniversary of each film's American release starting with this year.

Addendum: The Origin of Mewtwo, as well as the first two Pikachu shorts were also re-composed (the third short uses the Japanese score, but has American title music). The short films were composed by John Loeffler, John Lissauer, and Manny Corallo. While I have always considered "Origin" a part of "Mewtwo Strikes Back" and the shorts' music is worth mentioning, they are not necessarily essential to the package.

Not sure if this would grease the wheel, but I found an objective review of the first movie's score. It wasn't easy to find, since practically all "Pokemon: The First Movie" album reviews are for the soundtrack album, which is considerably more dated than its orchestral score.

Also, giving the score release of "2000" another listen, there are some mastering error in a few of the tracks, such as slight clipping in tracks 8 and 10, so the score could benefit from another release.