Over the decades, Nintendo has developed a reputation for doing entirely random things with no context. Sometimes these are questionable choices for its games. Other times it’s releasing a Fire Emblem mobile game with little fanfare. Today, Nintendo released an animated short film titled “Close to You,” starring a baby and a pacifier. The animated short is nearly four minutes long and leaves us with a lot of questions. The internet has already begun speculating about what it all means, from the baby’s hair resembling Rosalina’s to the idea that there’s a Pikmin under the bed around 1:38. There’s definitely something moving, but it’s so blurry, it’s hard to tell what it is.
Others point to the music as an obvious sign that it’s Pikmin-related and that invisible Pikmin are the ones moving the pacifier around. It’s probably the explanation that makes the most sense, as the whole “this is baby Rosalina” seems to be a stretch. For all we know, this could just be a way to show off Nintendo’s dedicated animation team, which it formed after acquiring Dynamo Pictures in 2022. The studio is now named Nintendo Pictures, and this could be the brand’s first step toward creating animated films based on Nintendo IP.
At this point, it wouldn’t surprise us if Nintendo never brings this up again. Chances are, though, we’ll get an explanation soon.
