The magician Uri Geller has taken to social media to apologise for getting the pocket monster Kadabra banned from the official Pokémon Trading Card Game many years ago and has now given Nintendo permission to use it once again.
"I am truly sorry for what I did 20 years ago. Kids and grownups I am releasing the ban. It’s now all up to #Nintendo to bring my #kadabra #pokemon card back. It will probably be one of the rarest cards now! Much energy and love to all!"
Back in the year 2000, Geller attempted to sue Nintendo for £60 million ($100 million), claiming the Pokémon Kadabra was an unauthorised parody of himself. He further noted how certain shapes on the pocket monster were comparable to Nazi SS markings, which he also wasn't impressed with. This was what he had to say at the time:
"Nintendo turned me into an evil, occult Pokémon character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image. I want to tell the world before the start of the holiday season that I have nothing whatsoever to do with these violent characters."
The Japanese name of Kadabra - Yungerer/Yungeller/Yun Geller - seemingly references Geller. The English name is also associated with magic and obviously, the pocket monster is known for bending spoons.
Speaking to TheGamer via email, Geller said he had now sent a letter to the chairman of Nintendo, giving the company permission to relaunch the "Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller" card worldwide.
"Due to the tremendous volume of emails I am still getting begging me to allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra/Yungeller, I sent [...] a letter to the chairman of Nintendo giving them permission to relaunch the Uri Geller Kadabra/Yungeller worldwide."
How would you feel about Kadabra's return to the Pokémon Trading Card Game after all this time? Comment below.
[source thegamer.com]
Comments 52
He’s a total hack but to be fair, it really is a bit of an obvious parody. Still, its one of those stories that pops up every now and again that baffles me to this day. Also... where are the SS symbols on Kadabra?
Edit: Never mind, the squiggles on its... front bottom do look a bit like the SS logo but there are 3 so it’s not totally and obviously comparable.
What changed his mind, a sudden bout of bad publicity?
I never understood this. Why was Kadabra banned from the cards and anime but not the games? And how is Alakazam any less of a reference?
Don’t fall for it, Nintendo! It’s a trick, he’s just playing... mind games with you
@nessisonett arent they a symbol off Zener cards that are used to test for psychic abilities. Like at the start of Ghostbusters
Its werid that he doesnt recognise them for being a "psychic" like if a postman called an envelope a flag.
Whatever it was petty in the first place.
@Roibeard64 Yeah exactly, same as Swastikas are a Sanskrit symbol. Unfortunately context flies out the window when they’re in any way connected to that morally corrupt death cult. I’ve seen old Buddhist stuff before with those sorta symbols and obviously my mind jumps to the way they were co-opted by the Nazis but it is important to note that they meant something else before the 1930s.
Every Nintendo Youtube rushing out to put out the same mild take.
@nessisonett but in fairness the difference is they are mistakable as each other where the SS two lighting bolts and the 3 wavy lines arent.
@thesilverbrick Each evolution refers to a different magician in Japanese. Alakazam is Foudin, either a reference to Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin or Harry Houdini
Uri Geller's problem isn't the spoons, but that Kadabra's japanese name obviously references his name, especially if you look at the Katakana:
ユンゲラー - Yungerer (Kadabra)
ユリゲラー - Uri Geller
He then interpreted parts of the character design to be referenced to him (he claimed the star on its forehead references the star of David, while the markings on his belly look like an SS-logo with an extra S to him), and didn't liked that he was being portrayed as something evil.
Glad to hear he is no longer associating it with negative press for him so it can finally return to the TCG and TV show.
@Roibeard64 I think the fact that Uri Geller is Israeli is probably why it just evokes such vivid notions for him. It’s not exactly the same logo but it does pass more than a passing resemblance given they come from the same origin. You’ll probably find that if you ask someone who has no idea about the spiritual origin of these symbols then they’d absolutely say that it was more than a bit similar.
I'll be honest, I did not know this was a thing until today. Obviously I heard about the Porygon thing and Jynx. Never this one.
Now we just need Porygon to return to the anime.
@BowtieShyGuy Thanks for the clarity. That was actually super informative. I appreciate it!
Crazy unbelievable times
How bizarre, if he thought it was a parody of himself with National Socialist symbolism then why would he claim it and prevent it's use in the card game? I'd just pretend it wasn't there if I was in this situation.
I have never heard that this was a thing. I would say how it's ridiculous that he thinks he's the only magician/spoon bender, but given how you can apparently steal body movements, this isn't too surprising.
@Entrr_username See above for the comment explaining how the Katakana for Kadabra and Uri Gellar are in fact the exact same.
@Tourtus A capitalist learning that Nazi is short for "national socialist" is the exact same as a 7 year old hearing swear words for the first time.
Another highlight of 2020. I'm glad that the issue is resolved.
Wow... Clearly, I missed this story 😆
This idiot needs to understand it's not "his" Kadabra and never was.
I have never even heard of this until now, though I don't follow the Pokemon Trading Card game very well!
Cool, Kadabra's gotta be my favorite gen one pokemon.
This whole thing is just really stupid but whatever man. Seems like he just wanted attention
Guy is a total phony, and this has been proven multiple times. And his claim is also total bull-crap. He has no case whatsoever. He's just doing this now for some free publicity.
I'll just post this here too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnDHPOWXFVI&ab_channel=PatoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0phFXBnsexw&ab_channel=PatoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRKLvscWe04&ab_channel=PatoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdTqpscvaw4&ab_channel=PatoE
@BowtieShyGuy
His case was thrown out of court--because he didn't have one.
@nessisonett
On his lower belly he has 3 res “S”
Kadabra is yellow and has a star on his forehead resembling the yellow Star of David Jews were forced to carry on their chest during the Holocaust
He also have a long nose like the Nazi’s claimed that the Jews had
Huh, that's so weird... So was Alakazam banned by extension? I mean from what little I know about the early days of TCG you can't exactly use Alakazam without Kadabra or did they just have Abra skip an evolution or something?
@impurekind Not doubting that, hence why I never said he did have a legal case. I just said he claimed it.
@Expa0 There are cards that let you skip the evolution process. Alakazam Ex for example can be played like a base evolution Pokémon
@thesilverbrick well, in Japanese, Abra is named Casey as a reference to Edgard Cayce, a channeler, while Alakazam is named Houdin for the magician Harry Houdini.
As for the games ban, it's the same situation with Jynx and Porygon. simply put, people who play the games don't care about controversies and people who care about controversies don't play the games.
@nessisonett The other article about SNK was derailed completely yet no comments were deleted, you're in the clear. They did disable comments there though...
You're wrong on states not being able to be communist or socialist, it's like saying no country can be a republic or a democracy. They are all forms of governance. That might be a brief summary of what kind of government they are but the description works, it's just not dead on precise and there can be some variation on these base forms of governments. I also never compared any country to China, I compared the U.S. to the Soviet Union but just barely... I never even brought up China.
I believe you're confusing socialism with social programs like the NHS. Bernie Sanders often did the same and pointed to Scandinavian countries claiming they were socialist because of their massive range of tax paid social benefits. A leader in one of these countries came out and clarified they have a variation of a capitalist economy with high tax rates. They aren't socialist, they just have large welfare programs like the U.K. The U.S. has some social programs like food stamps and welfare checks, but we are a constitutional representative republic with a mixed economic system that protects private property and allows a level of economic freedom in the use of capital, but also allows for governments to intervene in economic activities in order to achieve social aims and protections for the public good. (I'm trying to be as descriptive as I can) We're not socialist because people are allowed to keep and own property and use as they see fit under our laws. The U.K. is similar. [Part 1 of 2] (My response is to long, have to break it up.)
@nessisonett [Part 2 of 2] Under socialism you do not have property rights, period. The government owns all property, this is so property is accessible to all. Democratic socialism is still socialism, just because you vote to appropriate someone's property doesn't make it any better, it's still theft. Socialism also seeks to centralize all power in the government and seeks to eliminate or control all opposing and neutral parties it's citizens my have an allegiance too. That's why socialist governments have state run and funded media and why religious institutions and political parties are persecuted under these ideas. A communist/socialist government then indoctrinates it's people through the school system and reeducation camps to believe in the ideas of the government. After this, the near all powerful and unopposed government is supposed to naturally erode and then communist anarchy takes it's place and utopia arises. None of that is happening in the U.K. Karl Marx said this was necessary to bring about utopia but he never explains why or how such powerful government is supposed to just disappear. It's never happened and because these ideas create such a powerful form of government that control most of everything they can be seriously abused by those in charge of it. Often those in charge never want to lose their power, so they commit horrible acts to maintain and expand it. Bureaucracy rarely shrinks, it mostly grows. You said it yourself, human nature gets in the way of utopia. That's why it always ends in disaster. It can never be accomplished because we are human and every attempt to obtain it always ends badly. These ideas need to be abandoned, they are far too dangerous and the risks are not worth it. The death tolls and human rights violations committed by those who wield these ideals cannot and should not be ignored.
A capitalist economy or variations of one with social benefits like the U.S. and U.K. work fine, and I am in favor of them to an extent. How many social programs should exist and how extensive they should be are another topic all together.
I actually appreciate you taking the time to explain your views on the matter. You've been polite too, except the bits where you said my views were moronic but I still appreciate your overall civility. There's some more in your post I want to talk about but I feel that we've gone too far here. If you want we can continue talking elsewhere. I promise to be civil, you have my word, and I'm sure you know that's true because you and I have talked about political subjects on here before and we've both been peaceful. If not I completely understand and respect your decision to not carry on. If you write a full response to these comments here I won't write a full response back as I don't want to continue derailing the topic of this article.
Cool.
He's still a complete moron. And not because of his ban of Kadabra.
Does he think he's the only magician that bent spoons. I guess the controversy is in the Japanese name alone. Otherwise he wouldn't have a case to sue in the first place
@nessisonett so about kadabra being back in the pokemon tcg.....
@Zebetite @nessisonett
Well, back than he was still known, but he hasn't done really much in the last twenty Years to stay known world wide.
So the japanese "Kadabra"-Line of Pokemon could help as Advertisment
Never realised Kadabra wasn't in the card games anymore. But why was it ok for it to be in the games still??
People are a bit more wise to the nonsense associated with Uri Geller and other similar charlatans. The whole concept of the supernatural, the unexplained etc. is very dated now with most people realising that it’s all just b***s***
Good move, glad he had a change of heart. Kadabra was clearly a parody of him, as is seen from Kadabra's Japanese name.
Uri Geller single handedly saved 2020.
Ugh people, please read!!! No he isn't the only spoon bender out there but the Japanese name for the Pokemon was pretty much HIS NAME.
And Japan does also have a history of getting wet over German history so it's hardly an overreaction of him to be upset over certain stylistic choices.
@BowtieShyGuy As mentioned, the squiggly lines are a misidentification. The star is as well, since the Star of David has six sides (and usually drawn as two triangles not filled in), while the five-pointed star also references a Zener card symbol.
It's still a parody of him and his profession, but the design does not actually reference his religion or him being evil.
@BulbasaurusRex Right, I confused that with a pentagram.
I also think the first card that was shown to him was a "Team Rocket Kadabra", which got the whole "evil" idea stuck in his head.
Plus, them not exactly being the same still doesn't take away how it COULD be taken as a reference to said signs - but was altered. Just like everyone knows that Antony Hynkel's army is a reference to Nazi Germany, despite them wearing XX on their arm sleeves instead of the swastika.
OF COURSE everyone reading NintendoLife knows neither TPC or any Nintendo property would do an obvious negative caricature like that.
But someone who was already 54 back then when he realized he was being referenced might not be informed enough.
So at some level, I understand his initial reaction. But I do absolutely agree that he should have realized his misunderstanding more than a decade ago. (And yeah, it's also quite possible him or his lawyers thought it's good to push that antisemtic caricature story to get a case.)
Nevertheless, I think it's good it rather happened late than never, and I'm not going to hold a grudge about something that's in the past.
Not something I expected to happen. xD
If there was going to be any Pokémon lost to Dexit, I would've expected Kadabra to be one, so was surprised to hear they were added back in with the DLC.
Though nowadays they act like it was always intended to be read as 'Hungerer' rather than 'Ungeller', back in the day before the lawsuit, the Japanese side didn't even think of hiding that Kadabra was based on Uri Geller, even publishing it together with a manga-ised picture of him.
https://i.imgur.com/X3pmldZ.jpg
(How Pokémon were named:
1: After real-life animals, for example Zenigame the kame(turtle), or Hitodeman the hitode(starfish).
2: After adjectives, for example Betobeton from bettori(sticky), or Nyoromo from nyorori(slimy).
3: After real-life people, for example Ungeller from Uri Geller, or Ebiwalar from Ebihara.)
Oh, how humble of him.
I really dislike Uri Geller. Can't believe people thinks he has any "powers".
The amazing James Randi (rest in peace) showed what a bluff the man is years ago:
They should have been protected by parody laws. Like how snl doesn't have to approve every character based on a real person. What a loser to take things that far. No on can bend a spoon with their mind, it's a dumb trick so he deserves to be ridiculed for it if that's what defines him.
@Tourtus IIRC in the 20s and 30s Germany was the most open minded, race and LGBT friendly places on the planet. Then the guy with the moustache came along. It was less of a consequence of the German mindset but more of a "if it can happen in Germany, it can happen anywhere".
Even the English names sometimes reference real people like Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Kangaskhan. While Genghis Khan and Bruce Lee have long been dead (one much longer than the other), Jackie Chan has never been such a poor sport about his representation.
Honestly, I didn't even know this Pokémon was banned...
@nessisonett True about the sanskrit symbol and other Nazi symbols, but, maybe in fashion with what is usually denoted to mock or invert meaning of other spiritual, inspirational or religious symbols, the Nazi symbols were mostly inverted.
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