Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. brought the franchise's animated feature to American theaters, riding the crest of Pokémania at its commercial peak. Adapted and expanded from the Japanese original, it introduced Mewtwo's origin story to Western audiences while padding the release with the short "Pikachu's Vacation." For a generation of collectors, this film represents the moment a Japanese card game and cartoon became a genuine global event, making any surviving 35mm material from its theatrical run a tangible artifact of that crossover.
This cell centers on Team Rocket, the recurring trio whose comic relief and schemes provide connective tissue throughout the Pokémon television and film canon. Jessie, James, and Meowth are fan favorites precisely because they balance menace with slapstick, giving the franchise its ongoing comedic backbone. A cell bearing their name from this particular feature holds appeal for collectors tracing the group's presence into the franchise's first cinematic outing, a crossover point between weekly episodic antics and the larger theatrical stage.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm; the strip shows one frame with four perforations visible on each edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a mono or stereo optical print; Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks are not clearly resolved at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows saturated colour with no visible fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; the single frame shows characters in white uniforms bearing a red 'R', consistent with Team Rocket characters from the Pokémon franchise and matching the film on record.
Era check
A variable-area optical track on 35mm colour positive stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999/1999 release window of the film 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, 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.
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
