Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to translate a television and trading-card phenomenon onto the big screen, pairing the dubbed feature Mewtwo Strikes Back with the short Pikachu's Vacation. It became a cultural marker for a generation raised on Game Boy cartridges and Saturday morning broadcasts, proving that the franchise could command theatrical audiences worldwide and setting the template for years of animated sequels that followed.
This 35mm cell carries only the designation of the film itself, making it a title element rather than a character frame, likely drawn from the reel's opening or closing credits sequence. Collectors of Pokémon: The First Movie material prize these general title cells precisely because they anchor a specific print to the release, offering physical proof of the theatrical run rather than a licensed reproduction. For archivists, a title cell like this represents the film's own signature, a piece of the actual strip that carried the name into cinemas.
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
