Pokémon has been consistently popular for almost thirty years, and a new piece of art redesigning Ash, Misty, Brock, & Team Rocket from a Disney animation director shows how far that fandom reaches. Although the cast of the new series Pokémon Horizons has taken over, the characters from the original series remain one of the most iconic casts in anime history.
Some new fan art from Disney character designer and story artist Kiana Mai combines the style of the original Pokémon cast with the iconic style seen in modern Disney TV shows like The Ghost and Molly McGee. The fan art is balances being a fresh reinterpretation of the iconic cast of Pokémon while also still being immediately recognizable.
Pokémon’s Heroes Get a Fresh Redesign From Disney Artist Kiana Mai
Disney Television animation director, story artist, and character designer Kiana Mai has posted a Disney-style redesign of characters from the original Pokémon series on Twitter. Ash, Misty, Brock, James, and Jessie have been given a fresh new artistic re-imagining. Blending iconic characters with Disney animation’s instantly identifiable classic style uses two iconic Pop Culture mainstays to create something that’s both new and fresh but remains true to the spirit and design of the original. The artwork is fresh and new, but still ends up recognizably Pokémon and recognizably Disney.
Kiana Mai’s Disney-style redesigns pays tribute to the most iconic elements of the original Pokémon characters. Although every character’s outfit has been re-imagined, each one retains the recognizable color scheme of the original character: Ash is red, white, and blue, Misty is yellow and orange, Brock is orange and Green, Team Rocket is white, red, and black. Similarly, every character’s design still keeps its most iconic aspect: Ash’s hat, Brock’s perpetually closed eyes, the swirl at the end of Jessie’s hair. The bold new direction for the Pokémon characters is grounded in their original designs.
This fan art is a triumph of imaginative redesigns for beloved characters. By combining the best aspects of two distinct but instantly recognizable styles, the art blends the new and fresh with the iconic. Kiana Mai’s fresh new take is sure to appeal to both fan of Disney animation and Pokémon.
