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FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 from Warner Bros., riding the crest of the franchise's initial breakthrough into the West. Adapted and expanded from Japanese source material, it paired the feature "Mewtwo Strikes Back" with a Pikachu short, introducing millions of young viewers to their first taste of Pokémon on the big screen. It became a genuine cultural event, one of the highest grossing anime releases in American history, and a touchstone for a generation that came of age alongside the franchise. Its theatrical run cemented Pokémon as a fixture of late nineties and early 2000s pop culture, well beyond the games and cards that started it all.
This cell preserves a frame of Mew, the rare and mythical Pokémon whose presence anchors the film's origin story as the genetic source for Mewtwo. Mew carries a mystique within the Pokémon canon, often treated as legend rather than commonplace creature, which makes any surviving film frame of it a natural object of pursuit for collectors. As a piece of 35mm film, this cell is a physical fragment of the actual theatrical print, a tactile artifact tying directly back to opening week screenings rather than any reproduction or promotional material made afterward.
