National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in North American theaters in July 2000, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures during the peak of the global Pokémon phenomenon. Produced by OLM, Inc. and directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, the film expanded on the television series with higher production values and an original theatrical scope, drawing millions of young audiences and cementing the franchise's cultural reach at the turn of the millennium.

This cell, titled Pikachu, captures a tense moment from the film's 35mm print. Voiced throughout by Ikue Ōtani, Pikachu is shown pressed against a stone wall alongside a large curved pipe or cable, the character's posture shifting subtly across three continuous frames — a quiet record of animated performance preserved in physical film.