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EP045

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This article is about the episode. For the song of the same name, see Song of Jigglypuff.
← EP044 : The Problem with Paras
Original series
EP046 : Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon →
The Song of Jigglypuff
EP045.png
  EP045  
うたって！プリン！
Sing! Purin!
First broadcast
Japan May 21, 1998
United States February 20, 1999
English themes
Opening Pokémon Theme
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening めざせポケモンマスター
Ending ポケットにファンタジー
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director 玉川明洋 Akihiro Tamagawa
Additional credits

The Song of Jigglypuff (Japanese: うたって！プリン！ Sing! Purin!) is the 45th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 21, 1998, and in the United States on February 20, 1999.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Blurb

Our heroes trudge along, resigning themselves to the idea of camping out in the desert as the sun slowly sets. Suddenly they see bright lights in front of them: a glamorous city appears before them, covered in neon lights. They have found Neon Town, a city that is loud and boisterous 24 hours a day, famous for having no nights. The residents of Neon City sleep as little as possible and use all of their time to play. Behind the other side of the town's glorious facade, however, people are always angry and irritated. Fights being an everyday occurrence, Jenny, the policewoman, is terribly busy. Having had enough of a town so noisy one can't even sleep at night, our heroes head out into the peaceful forest. There they chance across Jigglypuff, the singing Pokémon.

Plot

Ash and his friends arrive in Neon Town, when a man bumps into Ash and becomes infuriated. Ash insults him, and when Brock tells Ash to apologize, he refuses. Before the situation escalates any further, Officer Jenny steps in and sends the man on his way, and suggests that Ash and his friends find a hotel to sleep in. Misty notices that this Jenny is a bit edgier than the others. Later, Team Rocket shows up in town and James bumps into the man from before, who punches him repeatedly over the head. Meanwhile, Jessie is spanked by a large woman for bumping into her.

The next morning, as Ash and his friends come out of a hotel, they notice several people arguing with one another. Deciding to leave right away, they head to a forest outside the city and spot a Jigglypuff. Misty expresses her desire to catch one and calls out Staryu, but Psyduck pops out instead. Misty scolds it and puts it back into its Poké Ball. This time, she successfully sends out Staryu, who uses Double-Edge on Jigglypuff. The Balloon Pokémon then gets upset and cries. The group then finds out that this Jigglypuff is having a hard time with its singing. Misty apologizes for attacking it earlier and hugs the Pokémon, deciding that they should help it with its singing.

Nearby, Team Rocket decides that they want to use the Jigglypuff to put the people of Neon Town to sleep in order to steal their Pokémon. They reveal themselves while wearing costumes and proceed to sing a tune radically different from their motto. After they finish, Team Rocket announces their latest scheme. Ash sends out his Bulbasaur to battle, and James sends out his Weezing. Bulbasaur's Vine Whip puts Weezing into a spin, resulting in Weezing's Poison Gas hitting Team Rocket instead. Misty calls her Staryu and orders it to blast Team Rocket away using Water Gun.

Afterwards, Misty gives Jigglypuff some lessons on breath control when singing. Pikachu sings as well, and when Ash compliments him, Jigglypuff gets annoyed and secretly kicks Pikachu. Before anyone can notice it, Jigglypuff hides behind Misty, who then inflates a balloon and puts it in Jigglypuff's mouth. The air inflates Jigglypuff and it goes flying. Brock also helps it by giving it a fruit that can help make its throat feel better. Jigglypuff takes a bite and instantly starts singing. Pikachu starts celebrating, but Jigglypuff kicks him again, and before the Mouse Pokémon can notice, Jigglypuff is already in Misty's arms.

Misty requests Jigglypuff to sing; it obliges and starts singing beautifully. Meanwhile, Team Rocket, hiding amongst some grass, sets up a tape reel recorder and a connected boom microphone to capture Jigglypuff's voice. As Jigglypuff sings, everyone falls asleep. When Jigglypuff notices everyone sleeping, it inflates itself in anger, goes through Ash's backpack, pulls out a black marker, and scribbles markings all over their faces. It also finds Team Rocket sleeping and tries waking them up with Double Slap. Unable to wake them up, Jigglypuff scribbles on their faces as well.

Ash and his friends wake up, only to find their faces covered with the markings. They rub it off and see that Jigglypuff is mad at them. Misty realizes that they must have fallen asleep during the performance and apologizes to Jigglypuff. Everyone tries to cheer it up by letting their Pokémon listen to its singing. However, all of their Pokémon also fall asleep. Then, Misty decides to let Psyduck listen to Jigglypuff's singing, since Psyduck is apparently so dumb it wouldn't know if it was awake or asleep. After Jigglypuff sings for Psyduck, it still becomes angry, and Misty realizes that Psyduck fell asleep with its eyes still open. Meanwhile, Team Rocket finally wakes up and see their faces are covered with markings. They rub it off and proceed to check the recording. Unfortunately, the recorder did not capture Jigglypuff's singing and recorded their loud snoring instead.

Brock suggests they take Jigglypuff to perform for the sleepless people of Neon Town, which Team Rocket is delighted to hear. When they get into town, Ash and his friends look for a place for Jigglypuff to sing, to no avail. A stage truck then pulls over, driven by Jessie and James, disguised as rock stars, who offer them their stage. Once the stage is set, Jigglypuff starts singing into a microphone and begins to pull a crowd. However, its voice echoes throughout Neon Town's restaurants and gambling dens, causing everyone in the town to fall asleep. Team Rocket, whose ears were not plugged in properly, fall asleep as well. Once Jigglypuff is finished, it gets upset with its dormant audience and goes on to scribble markings on everyone's faces. The next morning, Ash and his friends wake up, and quickly find out what happened. Jigglypuff is nowhere to be seen, and they assume it must have left out of anger. When the townspeople wake up, they seem friendlier to one another; the man who bumped into Ash earlier even apologizes to him. Misty call outs for Jigglypuff, though there is no response. Team Rocket awakens and leaves the city looking very happy despite their latest failure.

As Ash and his friends leave the city, unbeknownst to them, Jigglypuff is following close behind.

Major events

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Dare da?

Humans

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Jigglypuff

Trivia

  • Although it was never aired in syndicated form in Cartoon Network in 2003, it was finally aired on September 5, 2007 at 6:30 AM ET.
  • When Team Rocket turns on the speakers, their display reads "546R634". The "R" stands for "Rocket", as in Team Rocket, while 634 and 546 are goroawase for Jessie and James's Japanese names, Musashi and Kojiro, respectively.
  • James makes a reference to the 1984 mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap when he says "crank the speakers up to eleven".
  • In the English dub, the guitar on the music store sign is a Gibson Les Paul.
  • When the person who bumped into Ash apologizes for knocking into him the previous night, his face has not been scribbled on like everyone else's.
  • Between the two episodes in which it evolved, this episode is the only one in which Ash's Charmeleon does not appear.
  • Team Rocket breaks the fourth wall during their song, in which they say, "We will be the new stars in this cartoon!"
  • In the English dub's version of the Who's That Pokémon? segment, the Jigglypuff has green eyes. Usually, only Shiny Jigglypuff have green eyes; at this point in time, Shiny Pokémon had not yet been implemented.
  • This is the second of only two times in which Misty attempts to catch a non-Water-type Pokémon (in this case, Jigglypuff), the first attempt having occurred in Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village.
  • This is one of the few episodes in which Team Rocket does not blast off prior to Pokémon the Series: Black & White.
  • This episode is featured on Volume 2: Jigglypuff from VIZ Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
  • The original 2000 Italian name of this episode may be a reference to Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On the wings of song) by Felix Mendelssohn.
  • This episode was banned in Turkey, but no reason was ever stated.
  • Some of the businesses in Neon Town are puns on the names of chain businesses found in many Japanese cities, such as "Royal Poppo" (Royal Host) and "Seven Erebū" (Seven Eleven).
  • This episode features the only appearance of slot machines in the anime, not counting the one seen during Professor Oak's Pokémon Lectures.

Errors

  • The blurb incorrectly refers to Neon Town as Neon City.
  • In one scene, Misty's shoes are completely red in one scene.
    • Similarly, in another scene, Ash's shoes are completely white.
  • In one scene, Pikachu's cheek pouches are missing.
  • When Team Rocket first appears in their disguises, their gloves are missing. This also occurs when they cough from Weezing's Poison Gas.
  • When Misty tells Staryu to use Water Gun, her bag is missing.
  • When Ash wakes up after Jigglypuff Sings to Psyduck, the collar of his shirt is briefly the same color as his skin.
  • Brock twitches as he says Neon Town will be able to hear Jigglypuff's song.
  • The man that bumped into Ash apologizes for bumping into him last night. However, he actually bumped into him two nights ago.
  • In one scene in the English dub, a paint edit on a sign is accidentally painted over Brock's head. This also occurs with the text on the music store's door, where it is painted over Jigglypuff.
  • In one scene in the Dutch dub, Misty's mouth moves, but no sound can be heard.
  • Pikachu's missing cheek pouches

    Pikachu's missing cheek pouches

  • Jessie and James's missing gloves

    Jessie and James's missing gloves

  • Ash's miscolored shirt

    Ash's miscolored shirt

Dub edits

  • Kanto Pokérap: Day 5 (Version 2)
  • The scene of Jessie getting spanked by the huge woman and James getting beaten up was cut out of the Kids' WB! and CITV airing of the episode. However, it does appear in the Cartoon Network, streaming versions, and the DVD/VHS version.
    • As a result of the removed scene, the following close-up shot of Meowth being stunned is extended until the title card appears.
  • The text on many signs in Neon Town is edited out.
  • The scene of Misty yelling at Psyduck for sleeping with its eyes wide open is cut out during CITV reruns, presumably due to time constraints.

In other languages



← EP044 : The Problem with Paras
Original series
EP046 : Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon →
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.
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