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, a joint release from Warner Bros., Nintendo, and 4Kids Entertainment that carried the franchise from television into theaters at the height of Pokémania. Adapting Mewtwo's origin story, it was a cultural event as much as a film, pairing the animated feature with the short Pikachu's Vacation and drawing enormous box office numbers from a generation raised on the games and cards. For studios and collectors alike, it marked the moment Pokémon proved itself a durable, global franchise rather than a passing fad.
This cell is simply marked Pokemon, tying it to the broader identity of the release rather than a single scene or figure. Without further specifics, it stands as a piece of the film's foundational material, the kind of frame that represents the property itself in its earliest theatrical form. For collectors, such general-title cells hold value precisely because they anchor a moment in franchise history, a tangible artifact from the picture that introduced Pokémon to cinema screens worldwide.
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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