Pokemon 'Mew' toy
Dublin Core
Title
Pokemon 'Mew' toy
Subject
Pokemon, Electronic Toy,
Description
Pokémon 'Mew' toy is an electronic plush toy of Pokémon series that distributed by Hasbro in 1998. This toy uses the Psychic-type Mythical Pokémon Mew from the Pokémon universe as the character. This is a toy for children who older than four. The 9-inch plush is made with pink fabric and cotton, the interior of the toy is equipped with electronic components. The toy requires 3 LR06 batteries to move eyes and tail. It also allows the toy to make the Mew’s signature sound through the interaction. The plush is cased in a red cardboard box with soft plastic window, which provides a multi-angle view of the toy inside. The front of the box includes the name of the character, the cartoon of Mew, the Pokémon slogan ‘Gotta catch ’em all!’, the toy’s battery requirements and the age requirements to children, while the back of the box reveals further details of the toy.
In the late 1990s, as a multimedia complex, Pokémon became rapidly popular in worldwide range. The Pokémon series began with the Game Boy role-playing game released in 1996, and has been followed by anime, card games and toys. The success of the Pokémon series may not achieved without the development of the fantasy industry during the millennium moment in Japan. The millennial moment in Japan was marked by not only a bruising recession and social unease (and diseases) but also resounding triumphs in the fantasy industry (Allison, 2006). Just like 30 years ago, in the 1970s, when Japan began experiencing the comforts of recovery in the wake of the country’s first economic boom since the end of the World War II, Doraemon turned into a popular anime that captured the imagination of the nation. In both cases, the lead character is a fantasy creature attached to a singular child (Allison, 2006). Pokémon has made friendship, adventure, and the personal growth as a central theme, while using its fantasy characterization to attract not just children, but also adults and inspire the imaginations of them, brings a wide audience to itself. This type of theme and main story has a huge attraction to children and their family due to the values of teamwork and perseverance, and also making a tremendous international impact at the same time because of the theme transcend cultural barriers, which makes it not only limited in Japan.
Most of the Pokémon characters are inspired by animals, myths, cultural backdrops, legends, and scientific elements. Although people can capture them in the games but can not own them in the reality, and the appearance of plush toys come to make up for the regrets of fans. Pokémon blends elements of reality and fantasy, connecting people to the real world while stimulating the imaginations. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the explore of electromagnetic phenomena developed rapidly because of the needs of the development of production, by 1985, the first samples of integrated circuits appeared, marking a new stage in the development of electronic technology. With advanced in electronic technology, more toys began to incorporate features such as sound, motion, and light effects, by the 1990s, the development of electronic toys was touching its peak. Pokémon Mew electronic plush is the product of this trend. Hasbro productized the Pokémon species by making them into electronic toys, deepening connection between people and Pokémon furtherly. The addition of electronic components makes the plush more functional and provides people a more realistic interactive experience.
As a character archetype for the toy, Mew is a Psychic-type Mythical Pokémon introduced in Generation I. It is said that Mew have the DNA of every single Pokémon contained within its body. This causes many scientists to theorize that Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon. It is associated with Mewtwo, Mr. Fuji is the one who discovered Mew deep in the jungle and coined its name. With other scientists, he managed to gather some of Mew's DNA and used it in his mansion to create a modified clone of it, aiming it to be the most powerful Pokémon of all, which resulted in the birth of the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo. The Mew represents the pure form of natural and the natural evolution, while the Mewtwo represents the intervention and challenge to the rules of nature by people. The birth of Mewtwo was a product of cloning technology, the experiment ignored the emotions and liberty of the Mewtwo due to the seeking of power, this caused Mewtwo to doubt the meaning of its existence. As a created clone, it is confused its own identify and value, it even resisted its own creator in the process of finding its own identify. This is a reflection of the concern about the moral and social issues that cloning technology may bring in the real world. Morally questionable uses of genetic material transfer and cloning obviously exist. For example, infertility experts might be especially interested in the cloning technique to produce identical twins, triplets, or quadruplets. Parents of a child who has a terminal illness might wish to have a clone of the child to replace the dying child. The old stigma, eugenics, also raises its ugly head if infertile couples wish to use the nuclear transfer techniques to ensure that their “hard-earned” offspring will possess excellent genes. Moral perspectives will differ tremendously in these cases. Judgments about the appropriateness of such uses are outside the realm of science (Wolf, Liggins and Mercola, 1997). The relationship between the Mew and the Mewtwo is a reflection on genetic engineering and cloning in the late 20th century, especially the birth of Dolly in 1996. This caused a debate on the moral risks and the improvement of genetics of cloning technology. Utilitarians can argue, and many did just after Dolly, that cloning human beings by nuclear transfer is, for the time being, too dangerous, and that we should not attempt it before we know more about the process. Ethicists from other schools of thought have maintained, among other things, that cloning violates our dignity, uses people as means, affronts our uniqueness, and threatens our humanity (Häyry, 2018).
Pokémon was called the singular success story in the world of Japanese business during the recessionary times of the post-Bubble. Its profits were a welcome boon to the national economy (Allison, 2006). The 1990s were ‘the lost decade’ for Japan, with economic growth stopping. At the time, the global success of Pokémon and its derivatives showed the importance of the creative industries in economic recovery. As a derivative of Pokémon series, Electronic Mew Hasbro plush strengthened Pokémon’s domination in the toy market and boosted the growth of Japan toy industry, which played an important role in economic recovery. It also promoted the functioning of several industries around the world.
Works Cited
Allison, A. (2006). Pokémon: Getting Monsters and Communicating Capitalism. In Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. 1st ed. University of California Press.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppk4p.12
Häyry, M. (2018). Ethics and cloning. British Medical Bulletin, 128(1), 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldy031
Wolf, P., et al. (1997). The Cloning Debates and Progress in Biotechnology. Clinical Chemistry, 43(11), 2019-2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/43.11.2019
In the late 1990s, as a multimedia complex, Pokémon became rapidly popular in worldwide range. The Pokémon series began with the Game Boy role-playing game released in 1996, and has been followed by anime, card games and toys. The success of the Pokémon series may not achieved without the development of the fantasy industry during the millennium moment in Japan. The millennial moment in Japan was marked by not only a bruising recession and social unease (and diseases) but also resounding triumphs in the fantasy industry (Allison, 2006). Just like 30 years ago, in the 1970s, when Japan began experiencing the comforts of recovery in the wake of the country’s first economic boom since the end of the World War II, Doraemon turned into a popular anime that captured the imagination of the nation. In both cases, the lead character is a fantasy creature attached to a singular child (Allison, 2006). Pokémon has made friendship, adventure, and the personal growth as a central theme, while using its fantasy characterization to attract not just children, but also adults and inspire the imaginations of them, brings a wide audience to itself. This type of theme and main story has a huge attraction to children and their family due to the values of teamwork and perseverance, and also making a tremendous international impact at the same time because of the theme transcend cultural barriers, which makes it not only limited in Japan.
Most of the Pokémon characters are inspired by animals, myths, cultural backdrops, legends, and scientific elements. Although people can capture them in the games but can not own them in the reality, and the appearance of plush toys come to make up for the regrets of fans. Pokémon blends elements of reality and fantasy, connecting people to the real world while stimulating the imaginations. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the explore of electromagnetic phenomena developed rapidly because of the needs of the development of production, by 1985, the first samples of integrated circuits appeared, marking a new stage in the development of electronic technology. With advanced in electronic technology, more toys began to incorporate features such as sound, motion, and light effects, by the 1990s, the development of electronic toys was touching its peak. Pokémon Mew electronic plush is the product of this trend. Hasbro productized the Pokémon species by making them into electronic toys, deepening connection between people and Pokémon furtherly. The addition of electronic components makes the plush more functional and provides people a more realistic interactive experience.
As a character archetype for the toy, Mew is a Psychic-type Mythical Pokémon introduced in Generation I. It is said that Mew have the DNA of every single Pokémon contained within its body. This causes many scientists to theorize that Mew is the ancestor of all Pokémon. It is associated with Mewtwo, Mr. Fuji is the one who discovered Mew deep in the jungle and coined its name. With other scientists, he managed to gather some of Mew's DNA and used it in his mansion to create a modified clone of it, aiming it to be the most powerful Pokémon of all, which resulted in the birth of the Legendary Pokémon Mewtwo. The Mew represents the pure form of natural and the natural evolution, while the Mewtwo represents the intervention and challenge to the rules of nature by people. The birth of Mewtwo was a product of cloning technology, the experiment ignored the emotions and liberty of the Mewtwo due to the seeking of power, this caused Mewtwo to doubt the meaning of its existence. As a created clone, it is confused its own identify and value, it even resisted its own creator in the process of finding its own identify. This is a reflection of the concern about the moral and social issues that cloning technology may bring in the real world. Morally questionable uses of genetic material transfer and cloning obviously exist. For example, infertility experts might be especially interested in the cloning technique to produce identical twins, triplets, or quadruplets. Parents of a child who has a terminal illness might wish to have a clone of the child to replace the dying child. The old stigma, eugenics, also raises its ugly head if infertile couples wish to use the nuclear transfer techniques to ensure that their “hard-earned” offspring will possess excellent genes. Moral perspectives will differ tremendously in these cases. Judgments about the appropriateness of such uses are outside the realm of science (Wolf, Liggins and Mercola, 1997). The relationship between the Mew and the Mewtwo is a reflection on genetic engineering and cloning in the late 20th century, especially the birth of Dolly in 1996. This caused a debate on the moral risks and the improvement of genetics of cloning technology. Utilitarians can argue, and many did just after Dolly, that cloning human beings by nuclear transfer is, for the time being, too dangerous, and that we should not attempt it before we know more about the process. Ethicists from other schools of thought have maintained, among other things, that cloning violates our dignity, uses people as means, affronts our uniqueness, and threatens our humanity (Häyry, 2018).
Pokémon was called the singular success story in the world of Japanese business during the recessionary times of the post-Bubble. Its profits were a welcome boon to the national economy (Allison, 2006). The 1990s were ‘the lost decade’ for Japan, with economic growth stopping. At the time, the global success of Pokémon and its derivatives showed the importance of the creative industries in economic recovery. As a derivative of Pokémon series, Electronic Mew Hasbro plush strengthened Pokémon’s domination in the toy market and boosted the growth of Japan toy industry, which played an important role in economic recovery. It also promoted the functioning of several industries around the world.
Works Cited
Allison, A. (2006). Pokémon: Getting Monsters and Communicating Capitalism. In Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. 1st ed. University of California Press.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppk4p.12
Häyry, M. (2018). Ethics and cloning. British Medical Bulletin, 128(1), 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldy031
Wolf, P., et al. (1997). The Cloning Debates and Progress in Biotechnology. Clinical Chemistry, 43(11), 2019-2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/43.11.2019
Creator
Tajiri Satoshi, GAME FREAK, Creatures, Nintendo
Publisher
Hasbro UK Ltd.
Date
1998
Contributor
Morimoto Shigeki
Rights
©1995, 1996, 1998 Nintendo, CREATURES, GAME FREAK. TM & ® are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2000 Nintendo. © 2000 Hasbro International Inc. All rights reserved.
Format
26 x 18 x 14 cm
Language
English
Type
Plush Toy
Identifier
BDCM 93038
Coverage
United Kingdom
Files
Collection
Citation
Tajiri Satoshi, GAME FREAK, Creatures, Nintendo, “Pokemon 'Mew' toy,” Archival Encounters: Digital Exhibitions form the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, accessed January 22, 2025, https://humanities-research.exeter.ac.uk/archivalencounters/items/show/47.