Media mention: Professor shares the legacy of Pokémon franchise with CNN
Joseph Tobin, Elizabeth Garrard Hall Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, was recently quoted in a CNN article about the legacy of Pokémon.
Pikachu—arguably the franchise’s most marketable, successful, and iconic character—has a likable design, which fed into Japan’s efforts to export pop culture in the ’90s, according to Tobin.
“The idea was—or the corporate strategy as a nation was—we want ‘our’ mouse to compete with Mickey Mouse,” he said. “So, I think the fact that Pikachu is a mouse-like creature is not coincidental, but the character was made to be hyper-cute—cuter than Mickey or Minnie.”