MOVIELilo & Stitch - 'The Little Mermaid' Promotional Movie Trailer
SCENEAriel
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2002
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001629
FILM NOTES
Lilo & Stitch arrived from Walt Disney Feature Animation in the summer of 2002, a departure from the studio's fairy tale lineage into a story about family, chaos, and belonging set in Hawaii. Disney marketed the film heavily alongside its classic catalog, and trailers of the era often folded in glimpses of beloved characters from the studio's animated history to anchor new releases within a familiar tradition. This practice of cross-promotion, pairing an upcoming feature with an established favorite, was common in Disney's theatrical rollouts and home video releases at the time.
This cell preserves a moment tied to Ariel, the mermaid heroine of The Little Mermaid, whose presence here reflects Disney's habit of invoking its animated legacy inside newer promotional material. Ariel remains one of the most collected Disney figures, valued for her role in reviving the studio's animation era in 1989. As part of promotional reel material, this frame represents the brief packaging Disney used to bridge past and present releases, offering collectors a physical artifact from the marketing surrounding Lilo & Stitch rather than the feature itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of the Lilo & Stitch Little Mermaid 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 holes appear cleanly cut with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as a narrow light-modulated stripe; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge, and a DTS timecode stripe appears as a fine dashed line adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads as a fully saturated positive with no visible fading or colour shift.
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, and the animated character depicted is consistent with The Little Mermaid promotional content as recorded.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and DTS timecode stripe is consistent with a theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2002 date on record.
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 000063473
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
