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 4Kids Entertainment, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept from Japan into American theaters. Adapting the story of Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon grappling with questions of purpose and identity, the film became a cultural touchstone for a generation raised on the franchise. It remains historically significant as the bridge that carried Pokémon from television phenomenon to full theatrical event, cementing character voices and visual motifs that fans still recognize decades later.
This cell places Team Rocket, Jessie, James, and Meowth, inside Mewtwo’s Lab, a setting synonymous with the film’s central mystery and menace. As comic relief turned occasional participants in larger events, the trio’s presence here signals a rare intersection between their usual schemes and the movie’s weightier narrative core. Collectors prize material tied to this location because it anchors the trio within Mewtwo’s story rather than their standalone episodic antics. A 35mm cell from this scene offers physical continuity with the actual theatrical print, a tangible artifact from the moment Team Rocket steps into the film’s defining space.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital composite optical 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, evenly spaced and appearing cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with a mono or stereo optical print; Dolby Digital pixel blocks appear present in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical composite track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cool-blue tint typical of modern safety stock; dye image reads as rich and saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the stylised mechanical-creature imagery is consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
The composite Dolby Digital optical track alongside a variable-area optical track, and the cool-tinted polyester safety base, are consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999 US release 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
