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 craze into theatrical event status. Built around the anime's mythos of cloning and origin, it introduced American audiences to Mewtwo and, by extension, to Mew, the psychic progenitor at the center of the franchise's earliest lore. The film's box office success cemented Pokémon as a lasting cinematic property rather than a passing fad, and its imagery has remained collectible ever since.
This cell isolates Mew, the rare and elusive Pokémon whose scarcity within the story mirrors its desirability among collectors today. As the genetic source behind the film's central conflict, Mew carries outsized narrative weight for a creature seen only briefly on screen. A single 35mm frame preserving this figure offers a tangible link to the character's foundational role, a fragment of film history tied directly to the mythology that launched an enduring cinematic universe.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999/1999).
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 the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; a thin line consistent with a DTS timecode stripe is also visible adjacent to the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight cyan-teal tint along the edges, consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image in the picture area appears richly saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines are visible running through the frame area, consistent with light projection wear on a release print.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the vivid animated imagery is consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The combination of dual bilateral variable-area optical track, apparent DTS timecode stripe, and colour print stock 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
