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 by 4Kids Entertainment and OLM, it introduced American audiences to Mewtwo's origin story alongside a bonus Pikachu short, becoming a box office event fueled by playground and trading card mania. For many young viewers it was a first theatrical experience, cementing Pokémon's place in late-90s pop culture and proving animated properties built on merchandise could command real cinematic weight.
This cell centers on Mew, the elusive Mythical Pokémon whose genetic material sets the film's entire plot into motion. Mew's rarity within the Pokémon universe mirrors its desirability among collectors, who prize any surviving frame tied to a creature so central to the mythology yet so seldom seen. A 35mm cell bearing only Mew speaks to the character's singular narrative weight, a quiet counterpoint to the film's louder clashes, preserved here as a tangible fragment of the story's founding mystery.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: 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 top and bottom edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a narrow band with a wavy white waveform pattern; a thin blue line consistent with a Dolby Digital stereo optical track boundary is also discernible immediately adjacent.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight warm-amber tint consistent with older acetate or polyester safety stock; the dye image reads with strong saturated colour and no visible fading.
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; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated character and colour palette are consistent with the Pokémon: The First Movie animated feature on record.
Era check
The variable-area optical track, saturated dye image, and safety base are all consistent with a 35mm 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
