Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Digimon: The Movie arrived in American theaters in 2000 courtesy of Fox Kids and Saban, stitching together three separate Japanese Digimon theatrical shorts into a single feature for Western audiences. It rode the crest of the franchise's first great wave of popularity, when Digimon stood as Pokemon's chief rival for the attention of kids trading cards and watching Saturday morning television. The film served as an introduction and expansion for American viewers unfamiliar with the source material, splicing new voice work and music into the original animation. It remains a distinct artifact of that early 2000s licensing era, when American distributors regularly reworked anime properties for domestic release.
This cell preserves the opening title card, the frame where the film announces itself before any character or story unfolds. Title card cells hold a particular appeal for collectors because they mark the threshold moment of a theatrical print, the point where the projector confirms which movie is about to run. For a release built from repurposed footage and reassembled for a new market, the title card carries extra weight as the one purely American addition, the moment where Fox Kids and Saban stamped the film as their own.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Digimon: The Movie (2000).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; perforations appear cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed edges.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frames is obscured by the curved presentation and glitter border overlay.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly cool; dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to show the same title-card composition, consistent with a title sequence from Digimon: The Movie (2000).
Era check
Saturated dye image and four-perforation 35mm format are consistent with a theatrical release print from the year 2000, though the soundtrack area cannot be confirmed.
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 000063096
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
