Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in November 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American television and toy shelves. Adapted from the Japanese original and padded with the Pikachu's Vacation short, it became the franchise's theatrical proof of concept, a box office success that showed a card game and cartoon could fill multiplayer screens. For a generation of young viewers it was their first cinema event built entirely around a Pokémon property.
This 35mm cell carries no named character, only the announced moment itself: the ultimate showdown, the film's climactic confrontation building toward Mewtwo's central conflict. A cell reading like this suggests a title card or transitional frame, the kind of piece that heralds escalation rather than depicting a single figure or action. Collectors prize these theatrical release pulls for their direct link to opening week prints, valuing them as tangible fragments of the moment Pokémon proved itself a movie franchise rather than just a show.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along one edge beside the perforations, with a second narrower track visible, consistent with a dual variable-area stereo optical arrangement; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge.
Edge print
Text reading 'AND THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN BEGINS' is visible within the frame image area; no manufacturer key numbers or SAFETY FILM edge print are legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base carries a cyan-blue tint typical of polyester print stock; the dye image is strongly red-shifted with deep red and dark tones dominating.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive image; all four frames appear to be the same title-card shot, running consecutively; the text content is consistent with a title or trailer card for the film on record.
Era check
The combination of dual variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, cyan-tinted polyester base, and positive print format is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999 release date on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
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.
CROWN SERIAL 000062481
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
