Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., following its 1998 Japanese release from Toho, and became a cultural flashpoint at the height of Pokémon's global takeover. Backed by 4Kids Entertainment's adaptation and a massive merchandising push, it introduced Western audiences to Mewtwo, the series' most philosophically ambitious creation, and cemented the franchise's crossover from television into cinema. Its box office success proved that the Pokémon craze could fill multiplexes, not just bedrooms and card binders.
This cell centers on Mewtwo and his clones, placing the film's central figure alongside the genetically engineered duplicates who form the story's core conflict. Mewtwo, a synthetic Pokémon grappling with questions of purpose and identity, remains one of the franchise's most collected characters for his gravity and design. A 35mm cell tied to this pairing preserves a piece of the movie's thematic heart, the tension between original and copy that drives its narrative forward.
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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