Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros. and Nintendo's partnership with 4Kids Entertainment, riding the crest of Pokémania at its absolute peak. Adapted from the Japanese anime feature Mewtwo Strikes Back, it introduced American audiences to the franchise's darker philosophical undercurrents beneath the merchandising phenomenon. The film became a genuine box office event, proving that the pocket monster craze could translate into sustained cinematic success and cementing Pokémon's place in late nineties pop culture history.
This cell holds Mewtwo alone, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose existence drives the film's central conflict about creation, purpose, and identity. Collectors seek Mewtwo material specifically because the character functions as the movie's tragic centerpiece, a figure of immense power wrestling with questions no other Pokémon in the franchise was built to ask. A cell isolating this character without companions suggests a moment of solitary weight, fitting for a story that treats Mewtwo's isolation as its emotional core. Such a piece preserves a defining image from the film's most philosophically ambitious character.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, 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, with what appears to be a second narrower track adjacent to it, consistent with a stereo variable-area pair; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
The base shows a cool blue-tinted cast; the dye image reads as a positive with strong blue and dark tones, appearing saturated rather than faded.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the glowing circular element with a small character silhouette is consistent with imagery associated with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a stereo variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999/1999 release period 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
