Who directed the first Pokémon feature film?

Kunihiko Yuyama directed Pokémon: The First Movie.

The 1998 Japanese film, titled Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back, was the first feature film in the Pokémon anime film series. Yuyama directed the movie, while Takeshi Shudo wrote the screenplay. The story follows Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon who questions its origins and challenges human and Pokémon ideas about identity.

The film expanded the anime's themes into a feature-length story and included Pikachu's Summer Vacation as a theatrical short in many releases. Its Japanese premiere took place on July 18, 1998, followed by an English-language release in North America in 1999.

The English title is often shortened to Pokémon: The First Movie, which can cause confusion with the Japanese title. A computer-animated remake, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, arrived in 2019. Yuyama also directed numerous later Pokémon films, making him one of the central directors in the franchise's film history.