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 bid to translate a global phenomenon into a theatrical event, pairing the anime feature Mewtwo Strikes Back with the original short Pikachu's Vacation. It became a genuine cultural marker of the late-90s Pokémon boom, drawing enormous box office from a generation raised on the games and card sets, and cementing the franchise's leap from television to cinema. For collectors, it remains a foundational piece of animation history tied to a moment when Pokémon dominated American pop culture.
This cell preserves a frame of Cubone, the lonely Ground-type Pokémon long associated with themes of loss and memory within the series' broader mythology. Its presence in a movie built around cloning, identity, and grief gives the character particular weight for collectors who track thematic depth in the franchise. As a single 35MM frame, this piece stands as a physical fragment of the theatrical print itself, a tangible artifact from the era when Pokémon first conquered the big screen.
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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