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 features into a single English-language release aimed at riding the wave of monster-collecting cartoons that had swept through late-90s youth culture. It served as a theatrical companion to the television series, introducing American audiences to the DigiDestined and their partner creatures on the big screen for the first time. For collectors of that era's franchise ephemera, it stands as a snapshot of the peak crossover moment between Japanese animation imports and Western Saturday morning programming.
This cell preserves the opening title card, the frame that greets an audience before any character or conflict appears, announcing the film's name and setting expectations for what follows. Such cells are prized by collectors precisely because they mark a threshold moment, the transition from anticipation into story, often rarer in circulation than mid-film character frames since they exist as a single design rather than a repeated animation sequence throughout production.
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; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
Not visible in this capture; the area beside the picture frames is not resolved clearly enough to identify any optical or digital track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a cool-neutral tint; dye image reads as a rich, saturated positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same title-card composition, consistent with a title sequence from Digimon: The Movie (2000).
Era check
A saturated positive 35mm print with this perforation layout is consistent with a theatrical release print from the year 2000.
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 000063098
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
