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 gamble that a television phenomenon could fill theaters, and it did, becoming one of the highest grossing animated features of its year. Produced by OLM and 4Kids, the film introduced Mewtwo as a tragic, godlike creation whose conflict with Ash Ketchum gave the franchise its first real dramatic stakes, elevating a children's property into something collectors and longtime fans still discuss decades later.
This cell isolates the direct clash between trainer and creation, a moment fans return to as the emotional hinge of the film. Ash Ketchum, voiced by Veronica Taylor, represents the human resolve at the story's center, while Mewtwo, voiced by Jay Goede, embodies the philosophical weight the franchise rarely attempted again. Collectors prize material tied to this confrontation because it marks the series stepping beyond simple adventure into genuine thematic ambition, making the pairing of these two names a defining artifact of the era.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
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.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip visible in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge; a thin DTS timecode line also appears present as a narrow dashed line adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at the resolution shown; no legible key numbers or manufacturer text can be read.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-grey tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads as saturated and not visibly faded or red-shifted.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated characters and colour palette are consistent with the Pokémon: The First Movie animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, apparent DTS timecode line, and colour print stock 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
