THE LIST 10 things on our radar this month

Pokémon’s new chapter

It’s the end of an era. After 25 years and more than 1,200 mainline episodes, The Pokémon Company is saying farewell to its anime franchise’s iconic heroes Ash Ketchum and Pikachu. The show’s 25th season draws to a close internationally in March, and a new 2D-animated series will take its place in April, with a new pair of protagonists ready to take the reins. It’s a risky move to retire a brand’s mascot characters, but like many of its monsters, the Pokémon IP appears ready to evolve. Besides the new anime, Pokémon is jumping into the unscripted space by way of a new live-action series based on its popular trading card game. And the demand for Pokémon cards in 2022 was massive, driving the company to increase production by 27% and print more than nine billion cards in its fiscal year. Meanwhile, the franchise’s latest video game entries, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, became the fastestselling titles on any Nintendo console in November 2022, with the 9th generation games selling more than 10 million copies worldwide within 72 hours of their release. Will Pokémon’s next chapter see that kind of success? Time will tell.

Three, two, one…go!

Nintendo’s classic Mario Kart racing game will leave the screen to become a 3D attraction in a new interactive Mushroom Kingdom world that’s opening at Universal Studios Hollywood. And that’s not all—on April 7, Nintendo will also release a movie featuring the franchise’s star character in North America.

Cameo says hello to kids

Cameo has set its sights on the kids sector, launching a new service with major brands. The personalized messaging platform began offering videos for kids featuring YouTuber Blippi in 2019, and has since added Universal’s The Boss Baby, as well as Moonbug’s animated version of Blippi and its Cocomelon characters.