Nintendo has published the first part of a two-part deep dive into the Pikmin series, revealing that the Pikmin’s design was influenced by Tim Burton.
Art director Junji Morii, who was responsible for giving Pikmin’s creatures their familiar look, drew upon Tim Burton’s artwork. Burton may known as a director but he’s also a writer and artist and his art has a very distinctive, wiry style.
Previously, Morii and the rest of the Pikmin team had considered other looks, including a sort of squat round creature. But, inspired by Burton’s work, they became they wiry, leaf-headed creatures we know and love.
Well, they did, eventually, when they got a dab of colour. The plain monochrome sketch versions, which you can find here, are really rather creepy. But Burton’s own art isn’t exactly cutesy so it makes sense.
This revelation is part of a massive interview, which you can read in full here. The interview itself has been chopped into two parts, the second of which arrives today. If you’re a Pikmin fan it’s a must read, but here are some of the highlights:
- Pikmin started life as an N64 game.
- The team wanted the world to have a sombre note to it.
- Originally, the levels had a Lemming-style goal of leading X number of Pikmin to the exit.
- Another inspiration was Richard Dawkins’s book The Selfish Gene.
Pikmin 4 arrives this Friday on Nintendo Switch and the second part of the interview should drop later today.
