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 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo's Pokémon Company partnership, riding the leading edge of a cultural wave that had already conquered Game Boy screens and Saturday morning television. It brought Pokémon to American theaters for the first time, pairing the Mewtwo Strikes Back feature with the short Pikachu's Vacation, and became one of the highest grossing anime releases in United States history. For a generation of collectors, it marks the franchise's theatrical debut and the moment Pokémon fully entered mainstream pop culture.
This cell carries the phrase Calling All Trainers, language pulled straight from the film's promotional campaign rather than a scene within the narrative itself. Such wording points to a trailer or title card element, the kind of promotional 35mm material studios struck to invite audiences into theaters rather than to advance plot. For collectors, these pieces hold value precisely because they capture the marketing voice of a release, the direct address to the young trainers the franchise was built to summon.
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.
Tap to enlarge
