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 Nintendo's gamble that a Japanese cartoon phenomenon could conquer American multiplexes, and it did, opening at number one and introducing millions of kids to the franchise's mythology beyond television. Built around the philosophical clash between Mewtwo and Mew, the film gave the series its first cinematic scale and its first real attempt at emotional weight, pairing monster battles with questions about cloning, identity, and what makes a creature real.
This cell holds Mew alone, the legendary progenitor Pokémon whose DNA supposedly seeded Mewtwo's creation. Mew occupies a rarefied place in the franchise's lore, often withheld from ordinary players and treated as myth even within the games. A 35mm frame of Mew by itself carries the character's singular status, isolated from the conflict that defines the rest of the movie, a quiet counterpart to the engineered rival it inspired. For collectors, that isolation is the appeal: Mew rendered plainly, without spectacle, as the origin point rather than the battle.
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, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a hybrid optical/Dolby Digital soundtrack area.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a strong violet-purple dye shift across all frames, consistent with the cyan-dye-heavy appearance of a colour print negative or a print stock with significant magenta-layer dominance; the image is not neutral.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines consistent with projection wear are visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the animated character visible is consistent with the Pokémon franchise as recorded.
Era check
The hybrid variable-area optical plus Dolby Digital inter-perforation data block soundtrack configuration is consistent with a 1999-1999 theatrical release print, as Dolby Digital SR·D was standard on major studio releases of that period.
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
