Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo/4Kids as the franchise's theatrical debut, riding the crest of Pokémania in the West. Adapting the Japanese Mewtwo Strikes Back, it introduced American audiences to the saga's central conflict between a cloned Pokémon's rage and the natural world it was made to surpass. The film was a commercial phenomenon, cementing Pokémon as a cinematic property and pulling in kids and collectors alike who had only known the creatures through games and trading cards. Its soundtrack and marketing push made it a defining artifact of late-90s pop culture.
This cell, Mew and Pokemon Friends, gathers a rare cluster of species in one frame of film: Pikachu, the franchise's mascot, alongside Mew, the elusive genetic ancestor whose mythology drives the movie's plot. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Gyarados, Rapidash, Hitmonlee, and Ninetales round out the assembly, representing the diversity of Pokémon types the film showcased together. For collectors, a cell naming this many recognizable characters in a single strip is a rare configuration, capturing an ensemble moment that speaks to camaraderie among Pokémon themselves, a visual shorthand for the film's message of coexistence across species and origin.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three 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 the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral or variable-area stripe.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows saturated colour with no visible fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be the same or near-identical consecutive frames from one shot, and the animated character imagery is consistent with Pokémon: The First Movie.
Era check
A dual variable-area optical soundtrack on a colour positive 35mm print is consistent with a 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
