Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in November 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's joint gamble that a Japanese cartoon craze could fill American theaters, and it did, opening at number one and pulling in over $85 million domestically. Produced by 4Kids and OLM, it introduced Mewtwo and Mew to Western audiences and cemented Pokémania at its commercial peak, arriving alongside the trading card boom and a Saturday morning cartoon already dominating syndication. For a generation of kids this was the first Pokémon experience on a big screen.
Calling All Trainers reads as a rallying cry, the kind of phrase built for a trailer reel or promotional insert rather than a scene lifted from the narrative proper. It suggests marketing language aimed squarely at the franchise's core audience, inviting them back into theaters as participants rather than spectators. Cells carrying tagline-style titles like this one sit apart from character portrait cells; they document the film's role as event and summons, the studio speaking directly to the fanbase that made the property a phenomenon.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999/1999).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge of the picture area, showing the characteristic waveform pattern of an analog optical soundtrack; Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks are also visible between the lower perforations, consistent with a dual-format release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-teal tint typical of safety acetate or polyester stock; the dye image reads as neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the two frames appear to be title or interstitial frames rather than action frames, and the text 'CALLING ALL TRAINERS' is consistent with promotional or title content from the Pokémon: The First Movie release.
Era check
The combination of analog variable-area optical track and Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a 1999–1999 theatrical release print, when dual-format optical prints were standard.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000058916
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
