Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's gamble that the phenomenon sweeping playgrounds could fill American theaters, pairing "Mewtwo Strikes Back" with the short "Pikachu's Vacation." It became a box office event, introducing a generation to Pokémon on the big screen and cementing the franchise's crossover from television and trading cards into mainstream cinema history, a milestone still referenced in animation distribution circles today.
This cell pairs Charmeleon, the fire-type evolution of Charmander prized by collectors for its rarer screen presence compared to its more famous pre and post evolutions, with Caterpie, one of the franchise's earliest and most recognizable early-game Pokémon. Their shared appearance likely stems from a background or ensemble moment within the film's animated world, the kind of pairing that appeals to collectors chasing specific character combinations rather than lead roles. Such cells document the working frames of hand-inked production, offering a physical trace of characters who otherwise exist only in motion.
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.
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