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. and Nintendo's bid to translate a television and trading card phenomenon onto the big screen, pairing the Mewtwo Strikes Back storyline with the short Pikachu's Vacation. Its opening weekend numbers stunned industry watchers who had dismissed the property as a passing fad, proving that animated franchises built on merchandise could command theatrical audiences and box office respect. For a generation raised on the games and cards, this was their first chance to see these creatures rendered at feature length, cementing Pokémon's place in American pop culture and setting a template for anime crossing into mainstream theaters.
This cell carries the name Charizard, the fire and flying type whose fierce design and rarity in the card game made it the franchise's most sought after icon from the very beginning. A frame identified simply by that name, without further context, likely comes from a title card, trailer cut, or credits sequence, the kind of material used to announce or bookend the feature rather than narrate its plot. For collectors, having Charizard tied directly to this release links the character to the moment Pokémon proved itself theatrical, making the piece a marker of that crossover rather than a scene from the story itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokemon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm; the strip holds one frame with four perforations visible on each edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, with what appears to be two bilateral tracks, and a separate digital timecode or data line running parallel above them.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to slightly warm; dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; a single frame is captured, and the animated imagery is consistent with the Pokemon franchise film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with an adjacent digital data line is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print, 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
