Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the fall of 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo brought the phenomenon to American theaters for the first time, riding the crest of Pokémania at its peak. Adapted from the Japanese original with new footage bookending it, the film became a box office landmark for a franchise property, proving that a television and trading card sensation could command theatrical numbers. It remains a touchstone for a generation that grew up trading cards on playgrounds and racing to opening weekend.
This cell holds Mew, the rare and elusive Pokémon whose mythic status drives much of the film's plot and mystery. Mew battling situates the character in the movie's central conflict, the clash between the original and its cloned counterpart Mewtwo, a confrontation that anchors the story's emotional stakes. Collectors seek Mew material for its scarcity within the franchise's mythology, a figure more spoken of than seen. A 35MM cell from this sequence preserves a fragment of that pivotal exchange as it unfolded on theater screens in 1999.
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.
Tap to enlarge
