Nintendo says its ‘Close to You’ Pikmin videos were Nintendo Pictures short films, rather than a game or movie teaser

The second video revealed the hidden Pikmin that were invisible in the first one

Nintendo says its ‘Close to You’ Pikmin videos were Nintendo Pictures short films, rather than a game or movie teaser

Nintendo has shed more light on the Close to You videos it released this week, seemingly cooling expectations that they referred to an upcoming game or movie.

On Tuesday, Nintendo posted the first Close to You video with no explanation or description, offering an animated short about a baby chasing a dummy / pacifier which appeared to be floating around their bedroom.

The following day, Nintendo posted another video, again called Close to You, on its Nintendo Today app. This version is a shot-for-shot replica of the first, but this time all the Pikmin in the scene, which were previously invisible, can now be seen.

The videos seemingly played on the lore set by the Pikmin Bloom mobile game, which suggests that Pikmin inhabit present-day Earth but can’t be seen by the human eye.

Fans had previously been speculating about what the first video meant, and when the second video was released that speculation turned to whether it meant a new Pikmin game, movie or animated series could be on the way.

However, in a new post on the company’s official Japanese X account, Nintendo has stated that both animations were short films created by its Nintendo Pictures animation studio, implying that they aren’t necessarily teasing any future project related to them.

“We hope you enjoyed the two Close to You videos released on October 7 and 8,” the company’s statement reads. “The second video is available on Nintendo Today, a free app available on your smart device.

“These are the first short films created by Nintendo Pictures Co., Ltd. Nintendo Pictures will continue to explore new creative possibilities through video content.”

Nintendo acquired Japanese CG company Dynamo Pictures back in 2022, then renamed it Nintendo Pictures.  In the past, before its Nintendo rebranding, the company created CG animation for a number of movies and TV shows, including Yuri on Ice, Aya and the Witch and season two of Netflix‘s Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045.

It also worked on CG in Final Fantasy XIII-2, and has provided motion capture for such titles as Death Stranding, Nier Replicant, Monster Hunter World and Persona 5.

This week’s animations weren’t the company’s first work on Pikmin. Under its Dynamo Pictures name, the studio helped with the CG cutscenes in Metroid: Other M, and produced a series of Pikmin ‘short movies’ in collaboration with Shigeru Miyamoto for display on Wii U and 3DS.

A company message posted on the rebranded Nintendo Pictures site in 2022 read: “Through our videos, we aim to make Nintendo characters known to customers around the world and create one-of-a-kind videos that will remain in their memories forever.”

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