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 onto the big screen. Produced with animation from OLM and Team Rocket's usual mischief pushed aside for a grander, more philosophical clash between Mewtwo and Mew, the film became a cultural touchstone for a generation raised on the franchise. Its box office success proved that Pokémon could command theatrical attention, not just Saturday mornings, cementing the series as a lasting force in American pop culture at the close of the decade.
This cell centers on Pikachu, voiced by Ikue Otani, the character most responsible for the franchise's identity and its most enduring image across merchandising, animation, and memory. Collectors seek Pikachu material precisely because it anchors the series' emotional core, the one figure who threads through every era of Pokémon media. A 35mm frame of this character preserves a physical fragment of the film's original theatrical run, a tactile relic from the exact strip of celluloid projected in cinemas during that pivotal year.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999/1999).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame 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 track is visible along one edge below the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern consistent with an analog stereo optical track; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a combined analog/Dolby Digital soundtrack.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cool-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a saturated positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive color image; both frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the animated character depicted is consistent with the Pokémon franchise as recorded.
Era check
The combination of a dual bilateral 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 North American 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
