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 a Warner Bros. release built on the runaway success of the Pokémon television series and trading card phenomenon, bringing Nintendo's creatures to American theaters for the first time. Produced with backing from 4Kids Entertainment and OLM, the film introduced Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon whose origin story anchored the plot, and became a box office event that cemented the franchise's staying power beyond television and games.
This cell places Team Rocket, the recurring trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, within Mewtwo's laboratory, a setting central to the film's origin narrative for its engineered antagonist. Team Rocket remains among the most collected elements of the Pokémon franchise, prized for comic relief roles that anchor much of the series' identity. A lab setting tied directly to Mewtwo suggests a moment early in the film's mythology, where scheming and discovery intersect. As a 35mm cell, it preserves a physical frame from the movie's actual theatrical print, a tangible artifact from the era before digital projection replaced release prints industry wide.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both visible edges; the strip holds one frame.
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 left edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are not clearly distinguishable at this size, and no DTS timecode stripe or SDDS outer-edge tracks are visible in this capture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base shows a cool blue-tinted cast; the dye image appears saturated with strong blue and purple tones consistent with a colour release print.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks, or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; a single frame is present showing artwork consistent with the animated theatrical release of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Era check
The single variable-area optical soundtrack, colour positive print on what appears to be a safety base, and perforation layout are all consistent with a late-1990s 35mm theatrical release print.
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
