Nintendo has just released a mysterious animated short film with no explanation — leaving fans wondering whether it’s a tease for the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie, or a hint at a new Pikmin game.
At just under four minutes in length, the dialogue-free animation titled “Close to You” sees a blonde toddler taking their first steps, as their pacifier is mysteriously picked up by an invisible force.
Nintendo fans will note several musical cues from the Pikmin series as the pacifier is picked up and seemingly carried away (though no Pikmin can actually be seen). At the same time, some Nintendo fans have said the child could be space princess Rosalina — who is surely set to debut in next year’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Without any explanation at all from Nintendo itself, this is clearly something fans are being left to ponder about by themselves — though IGN has contacted Nintendo for more.
Certainly, the pacifier’s movements really do look like they could be made by a band of Pikmin carrying the item aloft, and several Pikmin games have indeed tasked players with squirreling away household items. And indeed, Pikmin 4 even tasked players with venturing inside a human house for the first time.
The Pikmin series has always been set on Earth, with Pikmin themselves suggested as always just being out of sight. Is this Nintendo making it clear that, to human eyes, Pikmin are indeed invisible?
Leaving aside the Pikmin music and other clues, other fans have suggested the child here could be Rosalina, whose parentage — alongside that of Princess Peach’s own — looks set to finally be explained in next year’s big-screen Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Is this a scene from that film? We’re not sure — the animation style doesn’t look quite the same as Illumination’s own — but it’s also odd to see Nintendo launching its own, unconnected animated short just six months out from its next big animated movie.
Whatever this is, we’ll update with more when we have it.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
