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 global gaming and television phenomenon into a theatrical event. Bringing Mewtwo's origin story to American audiences, it became one of the highest grossing anime releases of its time and introduced a generation of young viewers to their first cinema experience built around Pokémon. The film's success cemented the franchise's crossover from handheld screens to multiplex marquees, making its surviving theatrical materials markers of a specific cultural moment.
James and Jessie, the recurring duo tied to Team Rocket, remain among the most collected figures from the Pokémon universe, prized for their comic presence alongside the series' central heroes. A frame carrying both names together points to a shared appearance, the two positioned as a pair within the movie's visual record. Such cells preserve character pairings as they were composed for release prints, offering collectors a tangible link to the pair's onscreen partnership during the franchise's breakout theatrical run.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of POKEMON: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a standard mono or stereo optical print; Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks are also visible in the gaps between perforations on that same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
Base appears warm-amber to neutral; dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks, or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single animated shot, consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks 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
