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 peak of Pokémania that swept American theaters and toy aisles alike. Adapted from the Japanese original and reworked for Western audiences, it introduced Mewtwo's origin story to millions who had only known the franchise through television and trading cards. The film's box office success proved that Pokémon could command feature-length attention, cementing it as a defining piece of late-90s pop culture and a milestone in anime's crossover into mainstream American cinemas.
This cell centers on Mew, the elusive genetic ancestor whose existence sets Mewtwo's entire story in motion. As one of the rarest and most mythologized Pokémon, Mew carries outsized significance relative to its screen time, making any frame bearing its likeness a natural target for collectors tracing the character's cinematic debut. A 35mm cell of Mew represents a tangible fragment of that founding narrative thread, tying the creature's mythic reputation to the actual celluloid that carried it into theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour negative release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no visible torn or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area waveform; a thin blue line consistent with a Dolby SR or similar encoded optical track is also visible immediately above it.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cyan-teal tint consistent with a colour safety print; the dye image reads as a warm magenta-purple dominant, which is the complementary negative rendering of the scene's colour palette.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
The image is a colour negative; the four frames appear to run consecutively as a single continuous shot, and the subject matter is consistent with an animated feature matching the film on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, colour negative safety base with cyan tint, and perforation layout are all consistent with a 35mm 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
