Okay, if you can ignore the anthropomorphic flapping anus for a minute, there might be a interesting discussion; I recently was thinking of ways the various Disney movies were furry (for a project that just never panned out, but anyway) and one thing I thought of was what I called "Cute Animals". Basically, creatures that are treated as basic animals in their world, but would be considered "anthropomorphic" in ours.
So, while if a raccoon started acting like Meeko does in the real world, that would be news, in Pocahontas, he is not seen as exceptional. What I mean is nobody's like "wow, that's a really fucking smart raccoon!" They're like "oh, you have a pet raccoon, that's nice". I think Green Reaper has used this to talk about how How to Train Your Dragon is really, totally furry, you guys because Toothless acts smart sometimes. But it's important to note Hiccup's reaction to this; his relationship with Toothless is still a relationship between a human and an animal, as is Pocahontas's relationship to Meeko, or the average Pokemon Trainer is to his or her Pokemon. You could not do what you do to Pokemon if they were not the baseline "animal" of their world (probably arguably you shouldn't even do that sort of thing to animals, but that's beside the point).
Now, look at the reaction of the human character in the trailer; he's freaked out. He drops the stapler, anyway. (Just by the way, why the hell does Pikachu point at his butt there? I'm wondering if something got bowdlerized for the trailer.) This is not a normal Pikachu. That's the entire point; watching the trailer, the relationship between the two main characters is one of two intellectual equals, not one of human/animal. The guy is the Watson to Detective Pikachu's Holmes. Detective Pikachu specifically offers his services as a detective, not a Pikachu.
That's what you're missing; I'm totally on your side when you say Pokemon, in general, aren't anthropomorphic/furry/whatever, but this is definitely a case where the character in question is, within the rules of his own universe, different.
Shhh... Rakuen, down here.
Okay, if you can ignore the anthropomorphic flapping anus for a minute, there might be a interesting discussion; I recently was thinking of ways the various Disney movies were furry (for a project that just never panned out, but anyway) and one thing I thought of was what I called "Cute Animals". Basically, creatures that are treated as basic animals in their world, but would be considered "anthropomorphic" in ours.
So, while if a raccoon started acting like Meeko does in the real world, that would be news, in Pocahontas, he is not seen as exceptional. What I mean is nobody's like "wow, that's a really fucking smart raccoon!" They're like "oh, you have a pet raccoon, that's nice". I think Green Reaper has used this to talk about how How to Train Your Dragon is really, totally furry, you guys because Toothless acts smart sometimes. But it's important to note Hiccup's reaction to this; his relationship with Toothless is still a relationship between a human and an animal, as is Pocahontas's relationship to Meeko, or the average Pokemon Trainer is to his or her Pokemon. You could not do what you do to Pokemon if they were not the baseline "animal" of their world (probably arguably you shouldn't even do that sort of thing to animals, but that's beside the point).
Now, look at the reaction of the human character in the trailer; he's freaked out. He drops the stapler, anyway. (Just by the way, why the hell does Pikachu point at his butt there? I'm wondering if something got bowdlerized for the trailer.) This is not a normal Pikachu. That's the entire point; watching the trailer, the relationship between the two main characters is one of two intellectual equals, not one of human/animal. The guy is the Watson to Detective Pikachu's Holmes. Detective Pikachu specifically offers his services as a detective, not a Pikachu.
That's what you're missing; I'm totally on your side when you say Pokemon, in general, aren't anthropomorphic/furry/whatever, but this is definitely a case where the character in question is, within the rules of his own universe, different.