Is what happens in the movies considered canon?

I think they are, yes, but the problem I have is that they often don't have a set appearance in the anime timeline. Their place in the story can be figured out to an extent based on what Pokemon the characters have and such, but no mention of movie events is made outside of the movies. The reason for this, I assume, is that in case one did not see the movies, one would still be able to follow what goes on in the show. A very obvious example of that would be when Ash meets Articuno in Johto and... whips out the PokeDex rather than just saying "Look, it's Articuno".

Um... that tangent aside... I think they are canon because they are made by the same people, set in the same regions that are being traveled in at the time of production, with the same characters who have the same Pokemon. It's really just a bit of a side quest to whatever they were doing before.
 
Well I think so.

Like TheSmartOne said, they don't have an offical set in the anime timelines, there have been timelines others have posted before but a lot of them could be wrong.

Also something to consider, in kanto there were a lot short appearences of Mewtwo to promote the first movie which was solid proof that the movies do fit in with the anime. Including when Gary was in the Viridian gym and lost against Mewtwo under Giovanni's control (A short bit of it was shown in the opening of the movie) and when we saw jessie, james and meowth see the team rocket base blow to bits and see mewtwo fly out from the explosion (in the movie when mewtwo tells giovanni he does not want to work for him anymore and blow up the base and flys back to the island where he was created)

But there have also been talk that that was the only more that fitted within the anime. I don't really think so as all the movies do keep the characters, pokémon ect...

Overall, really in my opinion, it doesn't really matter because the anime really has no overall impact on the plotline of the anime. (With an exception of the first movie)
 
TheSmartOne said:
Um... that tangent aside... I think they are canon because they are made by the same people, set in the same regions that are being traveled in at the time of production, with the same characters who have the same Pokemon. It's really just a bit of a side quest to whatever they were doing before.
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That's not often the case in most movies made during a series (as opposed to the end, where it's supposed to be an epilogue). Some try to fit themselves in canon, and some just don't bother.


As for the movies, the overall consensus is that they are. Some of them definitely are canon, while others are questionably so and could be outright ignored as part of the main series' timeline.
 
I'd say at least movies 10-12 count as canon, oh and movie 8, those movies have been mentioned before in the series. Heck, two episodes were about Ash and his aura {Did I spell that right?} Which he learned about from movie 8. Don't know about the others, movie 1 maybe since it had that special Mewtwo returns that continued from that but they never talked about in the series. Movie 2 I'm not sure about, they saw the same Pokemon from that movie in the series and Ash acted like he never saw it.
 
In an extent, yes. Professor Lund's research is referenced in Pokemon Ranger! Deoxys Crisis. Ash was also able to use aura in Pokemon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu.
 
Yes, I would say that they're all canon. However, there is proof that the following movies are canon.



  • Movie 1: Over the course of a couple episodes Mewtwo was seen breaking out of the lab and battle footage at Giovanni's gym can be seen. Furthermore, the film used footage of Gary Oak battling Mewtwo.

  • Movie 5: Ash immediately recognized (Spoiler) in the Sinnoh League. The only time Ash met one of those was in this movie.

  • Movie 7: LaRousse city is Drew's hometown.

  • Movie 8: Ash's aura abilities from here have been mentioned in a few episodes.

  • Movie 10: Dawn bought a Lunar Wing in the movie that later appears in the anime.
I think I got them all.
 
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I remember those scenes that hinted towards those movies; So I would have to say that what happens in them is indeed canon. Like with the second movie, the group was still in the Orange Islands, but I don't ever recall there being anything in episodes that linked to that particular movie, but I would say that most things that happen in the movies are canon.
 
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