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 4Kids' bid to translate a global gaming and television phenomenon onto the big screen. Adapted from the Japanese original "Mewtwo Strikes Back," it introduced American audiences to a cinematic Pokémon story built around cloning, identity, and conflict rather than simple adventure. Its box office success proved the franchise could sustain feature length storytelling, cementing 1999 as the year Pokémon became a full-fledged cross-media empire rather than a passing craze.
This cell frames Blastoise against its cloned double, a pairing drawn straight from the film's central conceit: Mewtwo's replication of iconic Pokémon to prove artificial life equal to the original. Blastoise, one of the franchise's original starter evolutions, carries enduring collector appeal on its own, but the clone's presence deepens the piece, anchoring it to the movie's specific narrative crisis of duplication and rivalry. For collectors, this is a scene-specific artifact rather than a generic character still, tied directly to the film's thematic core.
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 visible tearing.
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 separate digital timecode or data line is also visible immediately above the optical track, consistent with a DTS timecode stripe.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a neutral to very slightly cool tint; the dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible on the three frames shown.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated character design is consistent with the Pokémon franchise as recorded.
Era check
The combination of a dual bilateral variable-area optical track with a DTS timecode stripe alongside it is consistent with a 1999–1999 theatrical release print, when DTS was a standard release format alongside analogue optical.
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
