MOVIELilo & Stitch - 'The Little Mermaid' Promotional Movie Trailer
SCENEAriel
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2002
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001625
FILM NOTES
Lilo & Stitch arrived in 2002 as one of Walt Disney Feature Animation's most personal projects, a hand-drawn film set against watercolor backgrounds at a time when the studio was pivoting hard toward computer animation. Its promotional materials often drew on Disney's deep animated library to anchor the new film within a lineage of beloved classics, and this practice of cross-promotion through vintage character imagery gives such trailer cells a unique archival value beyond the feature they were meant to advertise.
This cell preserves a moment built around Ariel, the heroine of The Little Mermaid, whose presence here situates her within a promotional context rather than her own narrative. Trailer cells like this one served a commercial purpose, using established, beloved characters to draw audiences toward a new release, making them artifacts of marketing history as much as animation history. For collectors, Ariel remains one of Disney's most sought-after characters, and a 35mm frame connecting her to another studio production adds a layer of crossover interest, capturing a specific intersection between two distinct animated eras.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of the Lilo & Stitch promotional trailer (2002).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the lower edge, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block strip also present between the perforations on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers, manufacturer text, or SAFETY FILM legend.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a dye-transfer or modern colour print stock; the dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks, or heavy scratching are apparent; the image area appears clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same or near-identical consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of an animated feature matching the film on record.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical track combined with apparent Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations is consistent with a 2002-era theatrical release print, as Dolby SR and Dolby Digital were standard on Disney prints of that period.
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 000063469
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
