Behind the Scenes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Unveiling Early Designs
A rare, internal documentary offering a deep dive into the making of the Nintendo DS titles, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, has recently come to light, providing enthusiasts with fresh perspectives on the games' developmental journey. This captivating behind-the-scenes footage includes never-before-seen preliminary sketches of various Pokémon, revealing the iterative creative process undertaken by Game Freak.
Titled Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Behind the Scenes DVD — Make All, this documentary was originally crafted for internal use by the creators of the Pokémon franchise, chronicling the evolution of these two iconic games. Despite its intended limited audience, a physical copy of the DVD was obtained by dedicated fans, subsequently digitized, and made accessible through the Internet Archive, allowing a global audience to explore its contents.
Among the many revelations in the documentary are early renditions of starter Pokémon such as Turtwig, Piplup, and Chimchar. Notably, Chimchar's initial design featured distinctive flaming-red posterior markings. Turtwig, in its nascent stages, appeared more akin to an armadillo before evolving into the familiar tortoise-like creature. Furthermore, the color palette of Piplup's evolutionary line suggests that Empoleon might have originally been conceived as a Water- and Ice-type, rather than its final Water- and Steel-type classification.
The extensive collection of concept art within Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Behind the Scenes DVD — Make All also showcases discarded ideas, including a 'Foam Dog' water-type starter, an evolution for Delibird resembling a gnome, and an earlier iteration of Sandygast. Community discussions, particularly on platforms like ResetEra, have seen fans meticulously analyzing these images, searching for previously unseen Pokémon or designs that might have influenced later generations, such as a creature resembling Scarlet and Violet's Chien-Pao, or an early black woodpecker design that could have inspired Starly.
As highlighted by Pokémon historian Lewtwo, the documentary contains dozens of preliminary creature concepts for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Some of these early designs blossomed into beloved characters, others were re-explored in subsequent game installments, and many were ultimately set aside. Lewtwo's detailed analysis, available on his YouTube channel, offers further insights into these fascinating discoveries, playing concurrently with segments of the documentary.
The entire 43-minute documentary, while entirely in Japanese, can be viewed on the YouTube channel KASHIWA 3RD, or downloaded for personal archives from the Internet Archive. Lewtwo further elaborates on the journey of bringing Make All to public attention, explaining how an unknown copy surfaced on a Japanese auction site and was acquired by an anonymous individual. Subsequently, Pokémon collector Neos secured another copy, collaborating with Lewtwo and other preservationists to ensure this invaluable piece of gaming history was shared widely. Further details on this collaborative effort are available on LewTwo.net.
Originally launched in September 2006 in Japan and April 2007 in North America for the Nintendo DS, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl recently received modern remakes for the Nintendo Switch in 2021, titled Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. This unearthed documentary serves as a testament to the intricate and thoughtful development process behind these cherished games, offering fans a unique glimpse into their origins and the creative decisions that shaped their final forms.
