Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in North American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise expanded from Game Boy cartridges and television episodes into a full theatrical event. Produced by Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak, the film introduced Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon whose existential struggle gave the series unexpected weight for a children's property. Its box office success proved that the brand could sustain feature-length storytelling and cemented Mewtwo as one of the franchise's most enduring original creations.
This 35mm cell centers on Mewtwo alone, the film's central figure and the clone at the heart of its meditation on identity and purpose. Collectors seek Mewtwo material precisely because the character carries the movie's emotional and philosophical core, standing apart from the roster of familiar pocket monsters. A solitary frame of this character reflects that isolation directly, offering a physical fragment of the character study that distinguished this entry from typical franchise fare.
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 three 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 running along one edge beside the picture area; a faint secondary line consistent with a Dolby stereo SR two-track optical format appears present.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a blue-cyan tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads as a colour negative with strong blue channel dominance.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines are visible running through the frame area, consistent with projection wear on a previously screened print.
Picture
The image is a colour negative; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject matter is consistent with animated content from the film on record.
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, cyan-base colour negative print stock, and perforation layout are all consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999 US 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
