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 of the Japanese anime feature produced by OLM and 4Kids Entertainment, riding the crest of the franchise's explosive American debut. It brought Pokémon out of Saturday mornings and Game Boy cartridges and onto the big screen, introducing Mewtwo and cementing the franchise as a cultural phenomenon rather than a passing fad. For a generation of collectors, this was the moment Pokémon proved itself as cinema, and 35mm material from the release carries the weight of that crossover.
This cell simply bears Pikachu, the character whose likeness became inseparable from the franchise itself and whose vocal identity, delivered by Ikue Ōtani, is one of the most recognizable performances in animation. A cell naming only Pikachu, without event or scene attached, points to the character functioning as icon rather than participant in a specific beat, the kind of isolated frame that studios and collectors alike prize precisely because it distills the whole property into a single figure. Such material often surfaces from trailer reels, title sequences, or promotional cuts built to sell the character on sight alone.
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 look clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area lines; a narrow blue stripe consistent with a Dolby SR analogue track is also present.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-cyan tint consistent with a dye-transfer or colour-print stock; the dye image reads as warm yellow-orange with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be from the same continuous shot and the character depicted matches the animated feature listed on record.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical track with apparent Dolby SR stripe and the cyan-tinted polyester base are consistent with a 1999-1999 theatrical release print of this title.
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
