When Nintendo released their short video ‘Close to You’ yesterday, many fans were a mix of confused and pleasantly surprised. Animated projects outside of their games are extremely rare for the company, and the tone made it seem more like something that Pixar would produce. The video garnered a lot of attention compared to other videos on their YouTube channel, with many fans speculating that the film had something to do with the recently announced second Mario movie.
The short begins with a baby playing with their mother. After the mother has to step away, blocks and toys begin moving on their own. The baby tries to investigate, only for their pacifier to seemingly come to life and play a game of keep away. At the end of the game, the baby is inspired to try walking for the first time to reach the pacifier, only to be saved from falling when the mother walks back in, proud of what they accomplished. While the sequence is heartwarming, many fans were puzzled on what it had to do with Nintendo itself.
Today, Nintendo has answered some of the questions and raised others. On the Nintendo Today app, the company rereleased ‘Close to You’ with a very noticeable difference. Rather than the items moving or floating on their own, they were being influenced by Pikmin from the series of the same name. The objects coming to life has now been recontextualized as the Pikmin playing a game with the baby, with the connection to Nintendo now being clear. Of course, this has caused fans to speculate on the presence of the Pikmin as well. The short could hint at more similar videos coming in the future, or a future installment in the Pikmin series.
Nintendo has never been afraid to try new things to entertain their players. Whether ‘Close to You’ means something deeper or not, it did manage to get people talking and bring Pikmin to the forefront of the minds of fans again.