Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in November 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo's screen partners, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American television and toy aisles. Adapted from the Japanese original with new framing material for Western audiences, it became the first theatrical outing for the franchise and a cultural marker of the era's youth entertainment boom. Its box office success proved that a television phenomenon could command a cinema audience, cementing Pokémon as more than a passing fad and setting the template for animated franchise filmmaking that followed for decades.
This cell belongs to Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose creation and struggle with identity form the emotional spine of the story. Collectors seek out Mewtwo material because the character carries the film's central philosophical weight, questioning purpose and origin in ways rare for the series. A cell bearing this name alone speaks to that presence without dialogue or spectacle, a single frame preserving the character's isolated gravity within the animation reel itself, a fragment of the movie's most enduring figure.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm 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 running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) waveform pattern.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers, manufacturer text, or SAFETY FILM legend.
Base & colour
The base shows a cool blue-cyan tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads as a positive with saturated blue and violet tones showing no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with projection contact; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single animated shot, consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
A variable-area optical track on a cyan-base colour print stock is consistent with a 1999-1999 theatrical release print, when analogue optical tracks remained standard alongside digital formats.
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
