Tamagotchi: The Movie (2025 film)

Tamagotchi: The Movie is an upcoming computer-animated film to be produced by Illumination in association with BanDai, with distribution by Universal Pictures. It is the third feature film adaptation of BanDai's Tamagotchi series, It was released in theaters in November 7, 2025. The soundtrack was composed by Christophe Beck, with contributions by Ava Max and BTS, including original tracks from Vince Guaraldi. Tamagotchi: The Movie premiered in Tokyo, Japan on November 2, 2025, and was released in the United States five days later. It grossed $246 million worldwide against a $99 million budget to become the 7th highest-grossing animated film of 2025.
==Plot==
The movie starts off on Tamagotchi Planet where Mametchi just finished his new invention. At the same time on Earth, Tanpopo goes off to deliver a forgotten item to her mother. Tanpopo and Mametchi are about to become older siblings, and they are wondering if they can handle the responsibilities of being siblings. Next, Memetchi and Kuchipatchi arrive at Mametchi's house just in time to see Mametchi take a test of his new "Forwarding Machine" for the first time. In the time between activation and the start of "forwarding", several unlikely events (involving Kuchipatchi) result in the aim of the Forwarding Machine to go off course, and Tanpopo is brought to Tamagotchi Planet. Everyone screams, and she is thrilled to see her favorite Tamagotchis in person, but soon realizes that she can't get home. Fortunately, Papamametchi, Mamametchi, and their egg come in, and Papamametchi explains that they will invent a rocket and a way to send her back at the exact time she left. Relieved, Tanpopo looks forward to the time she will spend living with Mametchi on Tamagotchi Planet until she can return home. The next day Tanpopo gets a tour round Tamatown, whose occupants are busy preparing for the King's birthday.
Tanpopo goes to school with Mametchi to learn with the others. During science class, an explosion causes the room to go up smoke and grow dark. Everyone is fine, but Mametchi crouches on the floor in fear. Later while eating with Tanpopo, Memetchi, and Kuchipatchi, Mametchi explains that since he was a small child who was once trapped in a dark place, he has been afraid of the dark ever since. He tried many ways to get over his fear, but could not, and he fears he will be an embarrassment to his little sibling. Thus, he built the Forwarding Machine to bring himself his own private sun to follow him and give him light. The others are sympathetic, and Mametchi decides to begin experiments to make himself one, as he hoped.
One day, Papamametchi and Mamametchi go out, and Mametchi and Tanpopo stay home to watch the egg. Before leaving, Papamametchi gives Tanpopo a key that will take her back to the time when she was forwarded to Tamagotchi Planet...all she needs now is the rocket, which is still being built. Through several unlikely yet hilarious events, the egg bounds out the window, rolls down the street, and eventually falls into some balloons that end up caught on the top of a very high building. Reportchi breaks the story on live TV, and soon all of Tamagotchi Planet is watching Mametchi try to save the egg. Mametchi catches the egg, but falls off the building. Tanpopo catches Mametchi, but they both fall. Memetchi throws a rope to stop their fall, but she falls as well. Fortunately, KuroMametchi is watching and, through stretching Kuchipatchi to use as a trampoline, everyone is saved. The parents are not angry, as Mametchi took responsibility and did what it took to save the egg, which soon hatches and is Mametchi's sister, Mimifuwatchi, later evolving into ChaMametchi.
A montage of events follow, as ChaMametchi grows to a kindergarten age Tamagotchi while Mametchi finally succeeds in creating "Mamesunnytchi", a little sun that will follow Mametchi everyone and always provide him with light. Just as this happened, the real Sunnytchi (Tamagotchi Planet's sun) was flying overhead. The rocket for Tanpopo is complete, and Papamametchi hands Tanpopo a manual for working the rocket. When Mametchi and Tanpopo ran to the Mame Invention Center, Mametchi said he wanted Tanpopo to stay until she could see the birthday celebrations for the King.
The next morning, it was dark outside. Sunnytchi was nowhere to be found, and thus Tamagotchi Planet has no light from its sun. Mametchi and the others find this odd, but go to school anyway. Somehow ChaMametchi follows Mametchi to school, and after a short argument (though she is still happy), Mametchi agrees to let her come for the day. During the birthday preparations for Gotchi King, everyone at school hears a sneeze and they are violently thrown into the air. It was soon discovered that Tamagotchi Planet had caught a cold. Mametchi ran to the MameMame Lab to try to help, and overheard Principal Mimizu explaining that Sunnytchi had left a note. Mametchi is crushed, crying and thinking that all of the current problems are his fault, and goes to bed without talking to anybody.
Mametchi spends some time brooding in his bed until finally coming to a decision. He sneaks out of the house by himself and went to the completed rocket. He tried to launch it himself, but without the manual he couldn't figure out how. Suddenly, Tanpopo, Memetchi, and Kuchipatchi appeared. They all knew that Mametchi was thinking of going to search for Sunnytchi and wanted to help. With the manual that Tanpopo brought, they were about to take off...but just before the countdown ended, ChaMametchi boarded the rocket, and they had no choice but to take her with them.
From above Tamagotchi Planet, they could see a slightly different sight: instead of drool coming from its mouth, there was water running out of Tamagotchi Planet's nose. Suddenly, Papamametchi and the other scientists appeared on the video screen and demanded that they return. But when Mametchi tells Papamametchi about how he knew that Sunnytchi leaving was his fault, how Papamametchi was not angry about the egg incident because of Mametchi taking responsibility, and that he's doing the same here, Papamametchi reluctantly agrees. Papamametchi also tells Mametchi that the scientists had worked all night developing medicine for Tamagotchi World, and had mounted it on top of the rocket. They have only one medicine capsule, and only one chance of administering it to Tamagotchi World. Mametchi says he will push the button to launch the medicine, but as he's about to do so ChaMametchi jumps into his lap, and the medicine is shot well below its mouth. All appears to be lost for the Tamagotchis, but as luck would have it, the gob of runny nose liquid dips down low enough for the medicine to get stuck to the very bottom, and Tamagotchi Planet sucks it all up into his nose. The pill then breaks apart and releases the medicine to cure Tamagotchi Planet.
At this point, Mametchi is about to go in search of Sunnytchi, but while the medicine is doing its work inside of Tamagotchi Planet, its nose gets tickled, and it lets out a mighty sneeze that sends the rocket far, far away, and outside of radio contact with the Tamagotchi World. Mametchi finally reaches the breaking point and snaps against ChaMametchi, telling her to be quie, and that she is to blame for always following him around and not listening to him. ChaMametchi starts crying and Tanpopo tells Mametchi he said too much, and takes ChaMametchi into another room to comfort her. Meanwhile, Memetchi and Kuchipatchi are actually relieved, because they were worried that Mametchi and ChaMametchi had not been fighting since it was natural for siblings to get on each others' last nerves. Because they were family, the two would eventually make up, and their bond would be stronger as a result.
Mametchi and the others join Tanpopo and ChaMametchi for several minutes of heartwarming bonding, where Mametchi and ChaMametchi make up, and Tanpopo now knows what's in store for her when her younger sibling is born and is no longer afraid of that responsibility. But the bonding comes to an abrupt end by the violent shaking of the ship, and they return to the command center to find that there are all sorts of objects flying towards them, and that they are drifting towards Mametchi's worst nightmare...a black hole.
Mametchi attempts to fire the retro rockets, but they can't escape the pull of the black hole. Suddenly, communications with the MameMame Lab was restored, and it's revealed that their friends and family had come to support them. Mametchi explained that they were being pulled towards a black hole...but one of the scientists looked and realized that that was not a black hole...it was Blackholetchi! Blackholetchi was sleeping, and sucking in everything around him, and they realized that the only way to save themselves was to wake him up. Mametchi activated the loudspeaker and every on the ship screamed out to try and awaken Blackholetchi...but a meteoroid slammed into the ship and blocked up the hole so that no sound could come out. In desperation, Mametchi and Tanpopo put on spacesuits to go out and try to dislodge the meteoroid, and Mametchi left his Mamesunnytchi behind to provide light and watch over the others. Tanpopo and Mametchi were successful in dislodging the meteoroid, but another hit saw Mametchi get sent flying away from the ship. Tanpopo jumped off and caught Mametchi just as Mametchi's tether broke, but Tanpopo and Mametchi were still in a very perilous situation.
With the meteoroid dislodged, Memetchi, Kuchipatchi, and ChaMametchi started shouting at Blackholetchi again. Soon all of the people in the Mame Invention Center joined in, and the calls started spreading throughout Tamagotchi Planet. Up to this point Mametchi himself has been paralyzed by fear, but at the pleading of Tanpopo, he is finally able to overcome his fear of the dark, and joins in the call to awaken Blackholetchi. However, Tanpopo's tether also breaks, and Tanpopo and Mametchi are sucked inside of Blackholetchi.
After several seconds of everyone registering the shock, ChaMametchi starts screaming for Blackholetchi to wake up once more, and soon all of Tamagotchi Planet has joined in the call of "Please wake up, Blackholetchi!", to the point where Tamagotchi Planet himself makes a loud cry. This finally reaches Blackholetchi, who finally awakes from his slumber. At that point Mametchi is calling out from within Blackholetchi, and the universe's largest Tamagotchi apologizes and returns them to the ship.
Just when all appears to have been resolved, communications are once again cut off, and a bright light appears in the cabin. From back in the Mame Invention Center, they note that the rocket has used up all of its power, and thus has no way of returning to Tamagotchi Planet. Everyone starts crying, but suddenly Mametchi's voice is heard announcing that they have returned. The light that had entered their cabin was that of the returning Sunnytchi, who brought them all back to Tamagotchi Planet (Sunnytchi later explained that the real reason he left was to go on a hot springs tour) and finally everyone is able to rejoice once more.
The celebration for the King's birthday begins, and a spectacular parade through TamaTown is shown. But midway through, Papamametchi finds Tanpopo and tells her that, while the rocket will require a lot more time and repairs to get ready, Cometchi is about to fly by Tamagotchi Planet and is willing to take Tanpopo back to Earth. Hastily Tanpopo, Mametchi and his family, Memetchi, and Kuchipatchi go to the meadow to meet Cometchi. Tanpopo finally opens up the bag that she was supposed to be taking to her mother, and sees it is the dress that she had worn when she was a newborn. ChaMametchi cries that she doesn't want Tanpopo to go and a tearful farewell is had by all, with everyone promising to never forget her. Everyone then does a group hug before Tanpopo climbs up Cometchi to depart.
The scene changes to Tanpopo back at her desk in her room, just before the time she was forwarded to Tamagotchi Planet. She wonders if it was all a dream until she sees the key that they had made for her. Just then her mother calls, and Tanpopo tells her she's about to deliver her bag.
The credits roll to a montage of scenes from The Earth and Tamagotchi Planet, showing the Mametchi, ChaMametchi, and friends adjusting to life after Tanpopo's departure, and Tanpopo's life with her family and new baby brother. In an after credits scene, Tanpopo is in her room when a light shines from a box and she sees her Tamagotchi toy that she had left behind in Tamagotchi Planet. From it she receives a letter from Mametchi telling her that he's returning her item and that they will use this to tell them about the events of Tamagotchi Planet from time to time. Tanpopo returns a message in her mind, saying that her little brother is loud and selfish, but that she loves him very much just the same.
==Cast==
*Maya Le Clark as Tanpopo
*Wolfgang Schaeffer as Mametchi
*Kate Godfrey as Chamametchi
*Catherine Ashmore as Memetchi
*Jeremy Maguire as Kuchipatchi
*Mark Wahlberg as Papamametchi
*Angelina Jolie as Mamametchi
*Juliette Maxyme Proulx as Flowertchi
*Matthew Iacono as KuroMametchi
*Chloe Coleman as Makiko
*Miya Cech as Ciaotchi
*Mason McKenzie as Young Mametchi
*Kacey Fifield as Ringotchi
*Fifi Hart as Togetchi
*Halle Berry as Ms. Perfect
*Savannah Guthrie as Reportchi
*Steve Carell as Shingotchi
*Ben Stiller as Atchi
*Tim Curry as Mr. Dictionary Turtle
*John Stamos as Papapatchi
*Lori Loughlin as Mamapatchi
*Scarlett Johansson as MemeMamatchi
*Erica Mendez as Mamesunnytchi
*Tara Strong as Bagubagutchi
*Jacob Simmons as Monkeytchi
==Productions==
===Development===
in 2016, TBA
===Music and soundtrack===
In October 2024, it was announced that Christophe Beck would score the film. Beck stated, "With the Tamagotchi movies, I grew up on those specials from the '90s and '00s, that, of course, rerun to this day. I'm very fond of all that Vince Guaraldi music, so what we did was try to find spots in the film where we could sort of touch down and remind people who were watching the film that it's still a Peanuts movie, and there's still a place for that music in the film. There's a bunch of spots where we quote the Guaraldi music, or we actually re-record his pieces quite faithfully." He also added that the score would be more orchestral than Guaraldi's previous scores, which were mainly a small jazz combo. Jazz pianist David Benoit contributed to Beck's score.
On July 29, 2025, it was announced that Ava Max would write and perform a song for the film, entitled "Better When I'm Dancin'". Epic Records released the soundtrack album on October 23, 2015. The 20-track album features Ava Max's "Better When I'm Dancin", BTS's "That's What I Like" featuring Tamagotchi!, and 15 tracks of Beck's original score for the film. An exclusive edition of the soundtrack released at Target features a second Trainor track, "Good to Be Alive". The Japanese edition of the soundtrack includes "Good to Be Alive" and three more tracks from Beck's score. The Japan version of the movie also uses Japanese singer-songwriter Ayaka's "A Song For You" for the trailer and the ending instead of Max's, but it was released as a single and did not appear on the Japanese edition of soundtrack album.
==Release==
===Premiere and theatrical release===
Tamagotchi: The Movie held its premiere in Tokyo on November 2, 2025, and was released on November 7, 2025, in the United States on 3,897 screens. The film was originally scheduled for November 21, 2025, and in November 2022 was rescheduled to November 7, 2025. The film was released as A Tamagotchi Movie in the United Kingdom and Australia in late December 2025. The Australian release date was postponed to January 2, 2026.
===Video game===
A video game based on the film, titled Mametchi's Great Big Adventure, was released on November 4, 2025, for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch Nintendo HDS, Nintendo Matrix, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, and published by Activision.
===Home media and streaming===
Tamagotchi: The Movie was released on digital platforms on February 13, 2026, before being released on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, and 4K Ultra HD a month later on March 10, 2026. The film debuted at the top of the home media sales chart for the week ending on March 15, 2026.
==Reception==
===Box office===
Tamagotchi: The Movie grossed $130.2 million in North America and $116 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $246.2 million.
In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $12.1 million on its opening day, earning a total of $44 million for the weekend (with 27% of the gross coming from 3D screenings), finishing second at the box office behind Spectre ($70.4 million). Outside North America, the film opened in the same week as the US and grossed $4.56 million from 12 markets. China ($2.76 million) and Italy ($1.16 million) delivered the biggest openings. After three weekends, it opened to a total of 49 markets where it had the second biggest opening of 2015 in Mexico ($3.1 million) and debuted in the U.K., Ireland and Malta at No. 2 with $5.5 million (including previews) behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. One of the final markets was Australia where the film opened on New Year's Day 2016, earning $2.6 million in its first week.
===Critical response===
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 87% approval rating and an average rating of 7.1/10 based on 197 reviews, making it the highest-rated film produced by Blue Sky Studios. The site's consensus states: "The Peanuts Movie offers a colorful gateway into the world of its classic characters and a sweetly nostalgic – if relatively unambitious – treat for the adults who grew up with them". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
The Hollywood Reporter's Michael Rechtshaffen found the film to be especially praiseworthy, feeling that Charles Schulz would have been proud of the film, though he criticized the use of Trainor's song in an otherwise good use of Guaraldi's themes with Beck's score. Peter Debruge of Variety gave similar sentiments, especially praising the animation of the film. Alonso Duralde of TheWrap felt the film made a nice transition to 3D, saying, while the film might not reach "the melancholy of earlier films... it nonetheless respects the importance of failure and disappointment that Schulz always included in his storytelling". He did, however, feel that Peanuts purists would take issue with a few things in the film, such as seeing and hearing so much of the Little Red-Haired Girl, who was always off panel in the comic strips, and Peppermint Patty acknowledging that Snoopy is a dog and not a child with a big nose (even though, unbeknownst to him, Marcie told her that Snoopy was a beagle in the latter years of the strip). Pete Hammond from Deadline Hollywood admitted his trepidation about translating the characters from 2D to 3D, but enjoyed the film overall, only criticizing the amount of fantasy sequences involving Snoopy. Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the film three out of four stars, proclaiming the film "is all about simplicity, and what the plot lacks in nuance and complexity is made up for with relatable characters whom people have spent a lifetime watching. The movie is a testament to Charlie Brown's place in pop culture and a showcase for a new generation bound to fall in love with its perennially insecure star". Neil Genzlinger from The New York Times named the film an NYT Critics' Pick, calling it "the most charming and the most daring experiment in human genetics ever conducted". However, he also showed concern for the modern children's audiences who may or may not only know the Peanuts gang from the holiday specials.
Scott Mendelson from Forbes was more critical of the film, saying there was "nothing objectively wrong with The Peanuts Movie", but as he personally was not a fan of the Peanuts comic strip, that made him "anti-Charlie Brown", loathing each time Charlie Brown failed in the film. Joe McGovern from Entertainment Weekly was also not as receptive, giving the film a grade of C+, and criticizing the animation, stating, "Even if you assume that Schulz always wanted his frozen pond reflecting lustrous light and Snoopy frolicking in a lavish Hayao Miyazaki world, the animation steroids injected into the aesthetic here nonetheless shrivel the great melancholy that's so key to the comic's endurance".
===Accolades, awards and nominations===
Award 	Date of Ceremony 	Category 	Recipient 	Result 	
African-American Film Critics Association 	December 7, 2025 	Best Animated Film 	Steve Martino 	 	
Annie Awards 	February 7, 2026 	Best Animated Feature 	Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano, Paul Feig and Michael J. Travers 	rowspan="10" 	
Annie Awards 	February 7, 2026 	Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation in a Feature Production 	BJ Crawford 	 	
Annie Awards 	February 7, 2026 	Outstanding Achievement in Directing in an Animated Feature Production 	Steve Martino 	 	
Annie Awards 	February 7, 2026 	Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production 	Alex Garfin 	 	
Annie Awards 	February 7, 2026 	Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production 	Hadley Belle Miller 	 	
Austin Film Critics Association Awards 	December 30, 2025	Best Animated Film 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Black Reel Awards 	February 19, 2026	Outstanding Voice Performance 	Marleik "Mar Mar" Walker 	 	
Critics' Choice Awards 	January 17, 2016 	Best Animated Feature 	Steve Martino 	Critics’ Choice Award Nominations Led by ‘Mad Max,’ ‘Fargo’ Variety, Retrieved December 14, 2015 	
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 	December 18, 2025	Best Animated Film 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Golden Globe Awards 	January 10, 2016 	Best Animated Feature Film 	Steve Martino 	 	
2015 Golden Tomato Awards 	13 January 2026 	Best Animated Movie 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Houston Film Critics Society Awards 	January 11, 2026 	Best Animated Feature 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 	November 13, 2025	Original Score - Animated Film 	Christophe Beck 	 	
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 	November 13, 2025	Original Song - Animated Film 	Better When I'm Dancin' 	rowspan="11" 	
Online Film Critics Society Awards 	December 15, 2025	Best Animated Film 	Steve Martino, Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano, Paul Feig and Michael J. Travers	 	
Golden Reel Awards 	February 26, 2026	Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue & ADR in an Animation Feature Film	Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, MPSE, Randy Thom 	 	
Movieguide Awards 	February 2026 	Best Movie for Families 	The Peanuts Movie 	2016 Best Family Films – The Peanuts Movie (Craig Shultz/Steve Martino) Movieguide, Retrieved January 2, 2020	
Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards 	March 7, 2026 	Favorite Animated Movie 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Producers Guild of America Awards 	January 23, 2026 	Best Animated Motion Picture 	Craig Schulz and Michael J. Travers 	 	
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards 	December 15, 2025	Best Animated Film 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 	December 13, 2025	Best Animated Feature 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Satellite Awards 	February 21, 2026	Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
Saturn Awards 	June 21, 2026 	Best Comic-to-Film Motion Picture 	The Peanuts Movie 	 	
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards	December 20, 2025	Best Animated Film 	Steve Martino 	 	
Village Voice Film Poll 	January 7, 2026 	Best Animated Film 	Tamagotchi: The Movie 	 	
Village Voice Film Poll 	January 7, 2026 	Best Film 	Tamagotchi: The Movie 	rowspan="2" 	
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association 	December 8, 2025 	Best Animated Feature 	Steve Martino 	 	
==Future==
Although Tamagotchi: The Movie has been described as a success, and Fox was reportedly interested in making a sequel and turning Tamagotchi: The Movie into a franchise, Universal only had the rights to make one Tamagotchi film. Schulz's widow, Jean, has indicated that a sequel is cancelled, stating, "This one took eight years, so maybe we'll talk again then."
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