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National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell NFV-000001626 Tap to enlarge
MOVIELilo & Stitch - 'The Little Mermaid' Promotional Movie Trailer
SCENEAriel
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2002
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001626

FILM NOTES

Lilo & Stitch arrived in 2002 as one of Walt Disney Animation's efforts to recapture hand drawn charm during an era increasingly dominated by computer animation. Released with a marketing push that leaned on the studio's beloved legacy characters, the film's trailers and tie in promotions often folded in glimpses of earlier Disney heroines to remind audiences of the lineage they were tuning into. It found its place as a modest but affectionate entry, prized today for its watercolor backgrounds and its departure from typical Disney formula.

This cell preserves a piece of that promotional bridge, featuring Ariel, the beloved mermaid heroine whose 1989 debut helped launch the Disney Renaissance. Her appearance here situates her within a trailer meant to connect Lilo & Stitch to the studio's storied past, a marketing strategy rather than a narrative scene. For collectors, a 35mm frame like this holds value as a physical artifact of cross promotion, a rare intersection where one film's marketing reached back to honor an icon from another.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of the film on record.

Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) white waveform pattern beside the perforations; a narrow Dolby Digital data-block strip also appears to run between the optical track and the picture area.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image reads as saturated and neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a theatrical release print of the film on record.
Era check
The dual-bilateral optical track combined with a Dolby Digital data strip is consistent with a 2002 theatrical release print, as that combination was standard for 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 000063470
Original Film Capture As received
The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size