Close To You – What Does Nintendo’s Mysterious New Animated Short Mean?

Nintendo has dropped a new animated short on their official YouTube channel, titled Close to You. Now, since Nintendo is best known for making video games, you would expect it to be a thinly-disguised advertisement for a game, or to star Mario and friends. But nope, Mario is nowhere to be seen, and the short doesn’t seem to be advertising anything. So, why did this short suddenly make an appearance?

About Close To You

The short, animated in CGI, begins with a mother playing with a baby, but then she has to leave to answer the door. While the mother’s away, the baby’s toys start dancing around. As jazzy piano music plays, the baby’s pacifier dances all over the room as the baby tries to catch it. Eventually, the pacifier ends up in the baby’s mobile, and the baby gets to his feet while trying to reach for it. The mother returns just in time to witness the baby taking his first steps.

It’s a charming little short. In fact, you could easily convince people that someone like Pixar made it – it has that certain Pixar-like feel. However, what is it doing on Nintendo’s YouTube channel, a place where people would normally be expecting updates for Metroid Prime 4 or Kirby’s Air Riders? Close to You has no description on YouTube other than the title, there are no credits, and comments are even turned off. What sort of game is Nintendo playing?

So What’s Going On?

Who made Close to You? The only things I found when researching the short were people speculating about what it could mean. I couldn’t find anything official about who made it or why it’s on Nintendo’s YouTube channel. Some people speculate that it’s a sly teaser for a new game, while others wonder if Nintendo is branching out and trying its hand at animated shorts. After all, they did release stop-motion Mario shorts for their Mario and Me line earlier this year.

Conclusion

The mystique of Close to You only adds to its appeal. Who made it? What is its connection with Nintendo? Why aren’t there any credits or descriptions? Someone will undoubtedly dig up the answers in the near future if Nintendo doesn’t reveal what’s going on. Perhaps Close to You is the first in a series of shorts to come, or perhaps Nintendo is planning a game that involves a baby and a dancing pacifier.