The Aardman Pokémon series is coming to Disney+ in 2027

The Pokémon Company and Aardman Animations have released a teaser trailer for Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, and the video confirms the stop-motion series will launch on Disney XD and Disney+ in 2027. The teaser, revealed during Pokémon XP 2026 in San Francisco, gives us a brief 45-second look at the duo traversing a grassy hillside. A short video posted to The Official Pokémon YouTube channel shows the first footage of the handcrafted project in motion.

This is a completely new, standalone story. It is not a spin-off of the main anime, nor does it tie directly into any recent game releases. Instead, it is an isolated comedy-adventure set in the Galar region, pairing a knightly Sirfetch'd with a squire Pichu.

It's basically Shaun the Sheep with a leek

The project is directed by Tom Parkinson, a veteran animator at Aardman known for his work on Shaun the Sheep. Much like that series, The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu drops human dialogue entirely. The story relies completely on physical slapstick, expressive clay animation, and standard Pokémon vocalizations to convey emotion. Aardman has spent fifty years perfecting silent physical comedy. This makes them the ideal studio to animate a very serious bird hitting things with a large vegetable.

The setting is a clever match for the studio. The Galar region was introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield and is heavily inspired by the United Kingdom. Handing a UK-themed fantasy setting to an acclaimed British animation house based in Bristol makes a lot of sense, especially for a story leaning into Arthurian knight tropes. Sirfetch'd is notoriously rigid and honorable in the game lore. This provides a natural comedic contrast to a clumsy baby electric mouse.

The Disney distribution deal

The collaboration between the two companies was originally announced back in 2024, but this trailer is the first confirmation of its exclusive streaming home. The 2027 release window is part of a much broader global distribution agreement between The Pokémon Company and Disney Branded Television.

According to the official announcement on the Pokémon website, the Disney deal goes beyond this new claymation project. It also brings older catalog entries, including Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, to Disney XD and Disney+ streaming platforms worldwide.

This upcoming series continues a recent trend of the franchise handing its characters over to specialized animation houses for bespoke projects. Following the critical success of 2023's Pokémon Concierge, a stop-motion miniseries produced by Tokyo-based dwarf studios for Netflix, the company seems willing to fund more artisanal takes on its universe. The shift away from purely traditional 2D anime into experimental formats gives these creatures a tangible, physical presence that CGI often misses. We just have to wait a few years for the clay to dry.