MOVIELilo & Stitch - 'The Little Mermaid' Promotional Movie Trailer
SCENEAriel
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2002
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000001630
FILM NOTES
Lilo & Stitch arrived from Walt Disney Feature Animation in 2002, a year when the studio was navigating the shift from its traditional hand-drawn era into an increasingly digital landscape. Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, the film stood apart with its watercolor backgrounds and Hawaiian setting, offering a warmer, more personal alternative to the fairy tale formula. Promotional materials for the film often paired its release with nods to Disney's broader animated legacy, and cross-promotional trailers referencing earlier classics helped situate the new release within the studio's continuing tradition.
This cell preserves a moment tied to The Little Mermaid, referencing Ariel herself, one of Disney's most enduring animated heroines and a perennial favorite among collectors of studio memorabilia. A trailer cell like this one functions as a promotional artifact, a single frame drawn from footage meant to entice audiences ahead of release, here used to bridge two films by invoking a beloved character. For collectors, it represents both a piece of Lilo & Stitch's marketing history and a tangible connection to Ariel's continued presence in Disney's promotional imagination.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of the film on record.
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 visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge, indicating a Dolby Digital SR·D composite track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a light cyan-blue tint consistent with a dye-based colour print stock; dye saturation appears strong with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the animated character and setting are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The composite Dolby Digital SR·D optical track format and cyan-tinted colour print stock are consistent with a 2002 theatrical release print, as Dolby Digital was 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 000063474
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
