Pretty Cure (film)

Pretty Cure, known in Japan as Futari wa Pretty Cure: The Movie (劇場版 ふたりはプリキュア), is a 2007 American animated magical girl film directed by and, which is based on  by. Starring the voices of, , , , and , the film was made as an attempt to bring the Pretty Cure franchise into the American market. It was Bluth and Bakshi's first theatrically-released animated feature film since 2000's and 1992's  respectively.

Pretty Cure revolves around two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who encounter the Garden of Light's Mipple and Mepple, who give them the power to transform into the emissaries of light; Cure Black and Cure White, to fight against the forces of the Dark Zone: a dimension of evil that has encroached on the Garden of Light and is now about to do the same to the Garden of Rainbows, Earth. The Cures search for the Prism Stones, placing them in a heart-shaped device known as the Prism Hopish, protected by the Guardian, Wisdom. Once they have discovered all the Prism Stones, its power takes them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dark Zone. Later in the series, Porun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, grants the Pretty Cure duo use of their Rainbow Bracelets as they defeat the Dark King.

Produced by for  and Lucasfilm Feature Animation, Pretty Cure premiered in  on May 18, 2007 and was released theatrically in the United States by  on May 25. It was an unexpected box-office success, grossing $201.4 million against a $56 million budget. It then received generally positive reviews from critics and fans of the original series, who praised the animation, voice performances, transformation sequences and soundtrack, as well as "Mepple, Mipple and Lollun's screentimes".

At the, it was nominated for and.

Plot
Pretty Cure revolves around two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who fight the forces of the Dotsuku Zone; a dimension of evil that encroached on the Garden of Light. The Dotsuku Zone's power takes the form of the Zakenna, creatures that infect people or items to turn them evil. The Princess of Hope, Mipple, and her chosen warrior Mepple are told to go to the Garden of Rainbows where it is said that they will find the legendary warriors, Pretty Cure.

Nagisa and Honoka have not really spoken to each other, and hardly know the other exists because of their differences. However, when they meet Mepple and Mipple, they are led to each other through them. Then, they are able to use the power of light to transform into Cure Black and Cure White and fight the denizens of the Dotsuku Zone.

After defeating the first denizen, the girls find a Prism Stone, one of the seven artifacts that protected the Garden of Light from danger, whereas now most of them are in the hands of each of the denizens. Now that they have gotten the first Prism Stone from the hands of danger, they look for the Prism Hopish and its guardian, Wisdom, to keep the stones safe.

Once they have discovered all the Prism Stones, its power takes them to the Garden of Light and repairs most of the damage done by the Dotsuku Zone. However, they have to defeat the Evil King himself, using all of their strength to manage that. Eventually, they get help from the Queen, and the Evil King perishes.

Later in the series, Pollun, the Prince of Light, is added to the mix. He transforms into what looks like an electronic notebook, and stays with Nagisa in order to help them fight against the Seeds of Darkness, which are creatures that the Evil King managed to make right before he got destroyed. When the Seeds of Darkness awaken, they begin working together in order to revive the Evil King. Eventually, they kidnap Wisdom, but he manages to put the power of the Prism Stones inside of Pollun before he is taken away. Following this, whenever Pollun becomes agitated, he shoots out power, granting Pretty Cure their Rainbow Bracelets. These vastly strengthen them physically and supply them with a new attack. Pollun also has the added ability of premonition.

After fighting with Pretty Cure for a long time, the Seeds of Darkness realize that as soon as the Evil King is back in control, they will cease to exist, and thus plan to take over him and the Prism Stones' powers. Eventually, they are able to fuse together and acquire the power of light, which makes them unstoppable in the fight against Pretty Cure. However, Evil King uses all of his strength to suck the fused Seeds of Darkness within him, and also the power of the Prism Stones. The girls try all their might to fight him, and with the help of Pollun and the Queen, are able to defeat him once and for all.

As the film comes to an end, Mepple and Mipple bid a tearful goodbye to Nagisa and Honoka, who beg the two of them not to go. Although they are no longer Pretty Cure, Nagisa and Honoka continue being best friends, and still keep their Card Communes that Mepple and Mipple are now asleep in.

Voice cast

 * as Nagisa Misumi, a 14/15-year-old student in the second year, later third year, of Private Verone Academy Sakura Class. The ace of the school lacrosse team, she is strong-hearted, but also incredibly lazy, barely ever doing her homework. She is also a food lover, her favorite dish being the takoyaki from Akane's stand. Although generally courageous, she frequently becomes quite flustered when near Shogo, on whom she has a crush. She is often known for her catchphrase "Unbelievable!". As Cure Black, she is strong and passionate. Her theme colors are black and pink.
 * as Honoka Yukishiro, a 14/15-year-old quiet girl who is Nagisa's classmate in both second and third year of her middle school. She lives with her grandmother Sanae and her dog Chuutaro, as her parents are constantly working overseas. She is quite intelligent and extremely knowledgeable, and is thus nicknamed 'The Queen of Knowledge'. She is in fact a member of the school's science club, where she is looked up to by the others. Honoka has not had many friends, but the few she has seem to be really close to her, and she has come to appreciate Nagisa's friendship. Her theme colors are white and blue.
 * as Mepple, the chosen protector of the Prince of Hope who allows Nagisa to transform into Cure Black. He is noticeably selfish, as he is somewhat possessive of Mipple and becomes jealous when Pollun takes her attention away from him. Despite residing with Nagisa, he frequently gets into a fight with her, often begging her to feed him, even occasionally poking fun at her. He ends his sentences with "mepo". Mepple can only stay in his true form for a short time before growing tired, so he generally takes on an energy-saving form resembling a cellphone.
 * as Mipple, the Princess of Hope from the Garden of Light who resides predominantly with Honoka and gives her the ability to transform into Cure White. She, like Honoka, is generally more reserved than her male counterpart. She ends her sentences with "mipo". Although it is hinted that Mepple has feelings for her, Mipple is always sticking up for Pollun, causing problems between her and Mepple whenever he comes on the scene. Like Mepple, Mipple usually stays in a cellphone-like case for the same reason as him.
 * as Pollun, the Prince of the Garden of Light. He is sent to Earth once all the Prism Stones have been retrieved by the Cures. The Queen gives a cryptic statement about his powers aiding Pretty Cure. Later, when Wisdom is in trouble, Wisdom places the power of the Rainbow Stones into Pollun without his knowledge. This gives him the ability to remain in his regular form as well as the ability to communicate with various people from the Garden of Light. When communicating with members of the Garden of Light, he turns into what looks like a gaming console and everyone can hear what is said and communicate openly. He also grants Pretty Cure the power of light which gives them their Rainbow Bracelets. He tends to be extremely selfish and think only of himself. He is quite childish and has a lot of energy. He can get a little annoying at times and definitely annoys Mepple when he wants to be alone with Mipple.
 * as the Queen, the ruler of the Garden of Light, a realm protected by the power of the Prism Stones. She appears as a huge CGI woman sitting on a throne, though she is easily overtowered by the Dark King. She carries a heart-shaped item of some sort. She has stated that she is impressed with the courage of Pretty Cure and aids them when she can. She seems to always be closing her eyes.
 * as Wisdom, often referred to as simply The Guardian, the keeper of Prism Stones, often residing on top of the Prism Hopish. His expressions often range from very sleepy to overly spooked.
 * as the Elder, a wise sage who resides in the Garden of Light. Despite his wisdom, he often keeps forgetting Nagisa and Honoka's names and referring to them as the Pretty Cura.
 * as the Dark King, the imprisoned ruler of the Dark Zone, somewhat humanoid in form that appears to come out of the ground. He is very tall and muscular with red eyes and extremely long arms. He does not appear to wear clothing. He wants to acquire the Prism Stones to prevent the "power to consume all things" from eventually destroying his own body, and to become immortal—he believes that it is the fate of all things to be consumed by the darkness. Like the Queen of the Garden of Light, the Dark King is animated by CGI.
 * , and  as the Zakenna, large purple monsters that are summoned by servants of the Dark Zone. These monsters combine with objects or living things to oppose the Pretty Cure. When they are defeated by a purifying move, they burst into numerous smal star-shaped monsters called Gomennah, who scurry off apologising.
 * as Pisard, the weakest of the Dark Five. Pisard is often thought to resemble a member of KISS, but when one looks closely, his look is closer to that of a male Kabuki actor in "keshō" ("make up"), having long hair and a painted face.
 * as Gekidrago, the strongman of the Dark Five, large and muscular with a moai-shaped head. He relies on his brawn rather than his brain. Easily having the highest fortitude of the group, Gekidrago can take a direct, unprotected hit from a Marble Screw and only be knocked out for a few minutes. He often ends his sentences with "-Muka".
 * as Poisonny, the only female of the Dark Five. Instead of making a big show of calling on Zakenna like Pisard and Gekidorago, she snaps her fingers and is much more discreet about it. She often takes on a human appearance to gain the trust of the girls before attacking. In her true form, she resembles a vampire: She is pale, dresses in black tinted with red, wears a cape and has fangs, dark-rimmed yellow and red eyes and long red hair.
 * as Kiriya, the youngest of the Dark Five, Poisonny's younger brother, he comes to the Garden of Rainbows (Earth) in order to spy on Nagisa and Honoka, infiltrating their school as a freshman Kiriya Irisawa and ends up becoming friends with them, developing a fondness and love for Honoka after she shows kindness to him. Later on he starts to have emotions and feelings for Honoka while trying to understand human emotions, resulting with him unable to fight the Pretty Cure duo. This act results with him sent back to the Dark Zone, but not before willingly giving a Prism Stone to the Pretty Cure duo. After the Dark King is destroyed, Kiriya returns as a normal human and lives an equally normal life.
 * as Ilkubo, the leader and most powerful of the five and the Dark King's right-hand man. He can block the Marble Screw with just his abilities, as well as many other attacks, but his fortitude isn't as high as Gekidrago, as a direct hit will still hurt him. He first appeared on Earth, but did not start seriously fighting the girls until after Kiriya is sent back to the Dark Zone. He is defeated but made a brief comeback in which he battles Pretty Cure and takes them to the Dark Zone in a far more monstrous (and powerful) form. He is large, pale and bald with pointed ears and dark-rimmed eyes that resemble those of Kiriya. He wears a white robe and carries a purple sphere.
 * as Belzei Gertrude, the de facto leader of the trio. His human alias is Genbu Yuuki. He's a plotter and a sadist. He is first seen in the film impersonating a doctor. He is able to blend in by making people think he is someone else. Due to his own ego, it's always someone of a high position, like head doctor or principal.
 * as Regine, the only female of the trio. Her human alias is Shoko Koyama. She starts out as a pretty red head, but then transforms and her hair stands straight back, then bounces into six curls. When in human form, she has a tendency to mumble things twice, then suddenly she will scream out without warning, shocking everyone. She is far more confident in her dark form, though.
 * as Juna, the tall young man of the trio. The muscle of the group, Juna is quite stoic and his expression seldom changes. His human alias is Ryuichiro Kakuzawa.