National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Released in 1999, Pokémon: The First Movie arrived at the height of a global phenomenon that had swept from Game Boy screens and trading cards into television and cinemas. For a generation of young fans, it marked the moment their favorite franchise made the leap to the big screen, and it remains a touchstone of late-'90s pop culture. Whatever critics thought at the time, the film's emotional core and its place in animation history have kept it firmly in the memory of those who grew up with it.

This particular cell comes from the theatrical trailer that first introduced audiences to the film. Owning a physical frame means holding an actual piece of celluloid that once ran through a projector, a tangible fragment of the excitement that surrounded the film's debut.