German Detective Pikachu trailer sounds hilariously different
Pika pika! One of these trailers is not like the others.
Warner Bros. Pictures dropped the trailer for the live-action Detective Pikachu movie on Monday, treating us to the strangely compelling aural spectacle of Deadpool's Ryan Reynolds voicing the furry yellow creature Pikachu.
The studio also released some versions of the trailer dubbed in languages other than English. And everything was pretty normal until you watched the original German one.
Twitter user Nirbion did the hard work of compiling clips from the trailers and posted the result on Tuesday.
Ikue Otani's famous "Pika Pika" was kept in every #DetectivePikachu trailer, right?
— Nirbion (@Nirbion) November 13, 2018
... Right? pic.twitter.com/xbV2SuRrFz
As Pokemon fans may have noticed, Reynolds wasn't the only Pikachu voice used in the English-language trailer. It also features a moment where Pikachu says "pika pika," which are the only words most people can hear coming out of its mouth.
That "pika pika" appears to come from voice actress Ikue Otani, who has provided the voice for Pikachu dating back to the start of the Pokemon anime series in 1997.
Otani's voice is also heard in the Spanish, French and Italian dubbed versions. The German trailer, however, bucked the trend, giving us a throaty, "pika pika" instead. Nirbion's video compilation rewards repeated viewings. It's just as funny the tenth time as the first.
Nirbion didn't alter or edit the voice. The original full German trailer appeared on YouTube until Warner Bros. removed it on Wednesday and replaced it with a new version that matches the other trailers.
This screenshot shows the original Detective Pikachu trailer on YouTube with more than 600,000 views.
We're fortunate Nirbion's Twitter video preserves the amusing moment. The first trailer had more than 600,000 views, so there were plenty of witnesses to the goofy vocals.
Nirbion says the video is just for comedic effect and isn't meant to throw shade at the voice actors. "I actually think the current voice cast is good and fitting, but the dub direction just a bit off and awkward," Nirbion tweeted.
Twitter commentators say the trailer voice didn't match the one used in the German version of the anime show, which made the Detective Pikachu voice change even stranger.
If the new trailer is any indication, we can expect the German-language Detective Pikachu to fall in line with the rest of the world when it comes out in May 2019.
First published Nov. 14, 9:42 a.m. PT
Update, 10:21 a.m. PT: Adds news that Warner Bros. has pulled the original German-language trailer.
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