Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the fall of 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo brought the phenomenon to American theaters, riding a wave of trading cards, Saturday morning television, and a merchandising boom unlike anything seen before it. The film's success proved that Pokémon was not a passing fad but a durable franchise, and its theatrical run remains a marker of late-nineties pop culture at its peak. For collectors of physical film history, a 35mm cell from this release carries the weight of that cultural moment, one of the few tangible artifacts from a movie experienced by millions of children in a single season.
This cell centers Pikachu, the character most responsible for the franchise's global identity and the figure most sought after by collectors of Pokémon memorabilia. As the singular subject here, Pikachu stands in for the entire brand's appeal, the mascot whose likeness sold toys, games, and tickets alike. A single 35mm frame isolates that presence, offering a physical fragment of the theatrical print itself rather than a reproduction, a small piece of the reel that once ran through a projector during the character's defining year in American cinemas.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital hybrid theatrical 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 torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the lower edge, appearing as a dual bilateral (two-track) variable-area strip; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the lower edge, indicating a Dolby Digital / analogue hybrid print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text, key numbers or safety designation.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight cool-blue tint consistent with a colour release print; the dye image reads as a positive with saturated blues and warm yellows, showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the animated character and lightning-effect imagery are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks combined with a dual bilateral variable-area analogue track is the standard hybrid soundtrack format used on 35mm theatrical release prints from the mid-1990s onward, consistent with a 1999–1999 release print.
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
