Paul Robertson made a name for himself over the weekend by redrawing the original 151 Pokemon as if they were … well, Australian. But while locals might have gotten most, if not all, of the jokes, fans from abroad might have been a little more confused by Pokemon such as “Yoyou” and “Criccet”. So to help them out, there’s a little explainer.
The annotations were posted overnight, although they weren’t created by Robertson himself. They were made by another fan, Nib Oswald, and while there might be a bone of contention with some of them it’s not hard for locals (particularly if you’re over 30) to see the inspiration for many of them.
The explainers don’t cover all of Robertson’s Blokemon yet – only the first 57 are noted. But even then you might be surprised by some of the origins, like White Crow tomato sauce – I only grew up with Heinz or Masterfoods, and I spent plenty of weekends camping in Cubs and Scouts.
Images: Nib Oswald
If you’ve got any international friends who have no idea what a Tim-Tam is, firstly, get new friends. Or send them a care package long distance. They’ll appreciate it. Otherwise, just flick them these quick explainers from Oswald. Tell them it’s a crash course in being Australian.
Comments
29 responses to “A Guide To Those Australian Pokemon”
I keep forgetting Paul Robertson is Australian. He’s a fantastic artist.
Time to re-watch Pirate Baby Cabana Battle Street Fight 2006!
I rewatch Kings of Power Four Billion Percent way more than I should
he also did a bunch of the art for scott pilgrim (including the game, i wish they had of let him do more of his weirder shit for it, it was kinda tame)
I purchased a deep fryer on the weekend and this article is not helping!
wtf, this feels totally unnecessary and makes the whole thing look incredibly visually unappealing now. Great job on completely ruining a good thing.
Straya!
wtf are you on about? how is it unnecessary or necessary for that matter. cant it just ‘be’?
when is a joke ever made funnier when you have to explain it
When is a joke that isn’t understood even funny at all?
If you understood it then this is not for you.
newsflash, the joke is in the imagery and naming. and if you let the explanations for our overseas brethren ruin the joke for you, then sad to say, your sense of humour needs adjusting, if you cant separate the two, time to ease up a little and laugh a bit more.
Um, if you are from overseas it would probably help. But hey, shut it down, and denounce it’s existence, his royal highness is displeased!
Or it helps those outside of the aussie cultural bubble understand some of the in jokes
you must be fun at parties
I am actually, because I don’t tell jokes and then immediately start to break down and explain precisely why that joke was funny
So you missed the part where it wasn’t the creator that whipped up these explanations.
A more apt analogy would be you telling the joke, walking off chuckling about how great you are and then someone else stepping in to talk to all the confused faces you left behind.
After reading this wonderful article everything is now complete 😀
Managed to google my way to figuring out the Whycrow/White Crow connection. Though still haven’t figured out where the hell White Crow comes from, I was convinced it must be some “weirdo SA being weirdo SA again” deal, but none of my SA friends had any idea either.
It’s not an S.A thing.
So where then? I’ve never seen the brand in shops at all before here in Sydney, and haven’t found anyone else who knows it yet.
What I want to know is what sort of monster dips Dim Sims in sweet and sour sauce!?
Serious question, who is the youngest person here who knew WTF Plucka Duck and Ozzie Ostrich were from before reading the explanation? 🙂
I’m 34 and got it instantly, but I’d be surprised if anyone under 30 got it easily.
I’m 29 and got it quite easily.
Hey hey! I’m 32, I got it!
21 and I got it straight away.
How? Ozzie Ostrich retired in 1994, when you were -3!
Oh wait. Those “TV’s funniest moments” shows they had in like 2005-2010, as broadcast TV desperately tried to remind us it used to be worth watching. Well, not WORTH watching, but the only thing to watch.
“Paul Robertson made a name for himself over the weekend”
….. pretty sure he was quite well-known before doing this.
So when’s the rom hack with these pokemon being released? I doubt it will take long…