Nintendo surprises me with mysterious short animation film â€"Close to Youâ€TM

Nintendo released a new short animated film, entitled Close to You, without any announcement. The film appeared on both the Nintendo Today app and on YouTube, but strikingly there is no explanation or context.

The style reminds of Pixar. A baby crawls after his toys that seems to move by invisible forces, accompanied by a playful piano melody. Except for the title, Nintendo gives no clue as to the purpose or origin of the film. Whether it's a preview of a new game, a film project or something else, it keeps guessing.

Fans suspect that Close to You comes from Nintendo Pictures, the Tokyo animation studio founded in 2022 after the acquisition of Dynamo Pictures. The music at the beginning is strongly reminiscent of the main theme of Pikmin. In addition, at 1 minute and 41 seconds a small red creature can be seen under the bed, which seems to be a reference to the well-known plant-like figures.

Some think that this is a harbinger of a Pikmin 4 version for the Switch 2, since that game already contains childhood levels. Whether this is just an isolated animation is still unclear. Anyway, Close to You is a cute and beautifully made film that raises curiosity.