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Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise expanded from Game Boy screens and Saturday morning television into a full theatrical event. Produced by 4Kids Entertainment and adapted from the Japanese original, it paired Mewtwo Strikes Back with the short Pikachu's Vacation, drawing enormous opening weekend crowds and cementing Pokémon as a genuine cultural phenomenon rather than a passing craze. For a generation of young viewers, this was their first encounter with the characters on the big screen.
This cell carries the date November 12, almost certainly marking the film's actual release day in the United States, making it a record of the moment audiences first saw Pokémon in theaters rather than a scene from the story itself. Cells referencing release dates function as historical markers within a print, tying the physical film to the calendar event that made it culturally significant. For collectors, a dated cell like this holds appeal precisely because it documents the movie's arrival rather than its narrative, anchoring the reel to a specific place in franchise history.
