General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

One Piece: The Movie

One Piece: The Movie (ONE PIECE ワンピース, Wan Pīsu) is a 2000 Japanese animated theatrical film, the first One Piece movie produced by Toei Animation, based on Eiichiro Oda's manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump.¹ It premiered in Japan on March 4, 2000, runs 50 minutes, and was distributed by Toei as one of the entries in the 2000 Spring Toei Anime Fair.¹^•² It tells an original story, separate from the manga's canon, in which Monkey D. Luffy and his crew pursue the legendary gold of the Great Gold Pirate Woonan while fighting the pirate El Drago.³

Key fact	Detail
Japanese release	March 4, 2000, distributed by Toei; 50 minutes¹
Director / writer	Atsuji Shimizu (志水淳児, also romanized Junji Shimizu); screenplay by Michiru Shimada (島田満)¹^•⁴
Position in series	First One Piece theatrical film by Toei Animation; the second One Piece film overall, after the 1998 OVA Defeat the Pirate Ganzack!⁴
Story	Original, non-canon adventure set in the East Blue, between the Syrup Village and Baratie arcs, with a four-member Straw Hat crew⁴
Villain	El Drago, a pirate empowered by the Goe Goe no Mi Devil Fruit, which lets him generate powerful sound waves with his voice³^•⁵
Music	Opening theme "We Are!" by Hiroshi Kitadani; ending theme "Memories" by Maki Otsuki; score by Kohei Tanaka⁶
Home video	VHS and DVD on January 21, 2001; Blu-ray on November 21, 2009⁴

Spoilers

Story

The film follows Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Usopp, who are sailing in search of the One Piece, the great hidden treasure, when they are attacked by a trio of petty thieves and by the pirate El Drago. They escape and rescue Tobio, a young boy El Drago had captured.⁷ Tobio admires Woonan, the Great Gold Pirate said to have obtained almost one-third of the world's gold before disappearing, leaving his hoard hidden on a remote island.¹^•⁸

Hearing Tobio's story, Luffy declares he will recruit Woonan if the legendary pirate turns out to be a good man, and the crew sets the Going Merry for the golden island.⁷ El Drago, obsessed with gold, is also heading for Woonan's island using a treasure map.⁸ Like Luffy, El Drago holds the power of a Devil Fruit: the Goe Goe no Mi lets him destroy things with his voice.³ Tobio's grandfather Ganzo, an oden vendor, joins the adventure, and his motive turns out to reach beyond the gold itself.³ In the end the Straw Hats defeat El Drago and learn the secret of Woonan's greatest treasure.⁴

Production and release

The film was produced while the One Piece TV anime was still in its first year: its theatrical run coincided with the broadcast of episodes 17 through 20, the end of the Syrup Village arc and the introduction of the Baratie and Sanji.⁴ The main voice cast carried over from the TV series: Mayumi Tanaka as Luffy, Kazuya Nakai as Zoro, Akemi Okamura as Nami, and Kappei Yamaguchi as Usopp, with Yuka Imai as Tobio and Takeshi Aono as Ganzo.⁸

It was Toei's only One Piece production made with traditional ink-and-paint; the TV anime and all subsequent films used digital ink-and-paint.⁴ Eiichiro Oda attended one early screening and praised the film in the March 27, 2000 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump.⁴

Place in the One Piece franchise

The film is an original story and is not part of the manga's canon, but it is among the most careful of the Toei films about fitting the series' status quo: the crew has exactly four members, the Going Merry already flies its Jolly Roger, and Nami's remark that the crew has not yet reached the Grand Line places it between the Syrup Village and Baratie arcs.⁴ Its release also began a theatrical line that grew to fifteen animated One Piece films by One Piece Film: Red in 2022.⁹

Because it is a short, self-contained East Blue adventure, viewing guides commonly place it around episode 18 of the anime, and it requires no knowledge of later story developments.¹⁰ An English-language release followed much later: Manga Entertainment issued One Piece: The Movie on July 28, 2014.⁴ More than two decades after its premiere, Toei Animation's Latin America arm announced a commemorative theatrical re-release of the film, paired with the 2001 short Jango's Dance Carnival, for September 10, 2026.⁵

Music

The film uses "We Are!", sung by Hiroshi Kitadani, as its opening theme, the same song that opened the TV anime's first 47 episodes and later returned for episode 1000, and "Memories", sung by Maki Otsuki, as its ending theme.⁶^•⁵ The score was composed by Kohei Tanaka, with character design and animation direction credited to Kazuyoshi Ueda and Noboru Koizumi.⁶

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026