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 bid to translate a global phenomenon into a theatrical event, pairing the anime's television roots with a big screen budget and a story built around Mewtwo, a lab-born Pokémon wrestling with its own origins. The film became a box office success far beyond expectations, cementing the franchise's staying power in the West and introducing a generation to the emotional stakes underlying the cute exteriors of its creatures. For collectors of animation and 90s pop culture ephemera, this movie remains a touchstone.
This 35mm cell preserves Ash Ketchum, the series' central trainer and the character through whom the entire Pokémon world is filtered. Collectors seek Ash frames because he anchors the franchise's identity, appearing in nearly every pivotal scene across the show and its films. A single cell bearing his likeness offers a direct physical link to the animation process behind a story that hinges on loyalty, growth, and the bonds between trainers and their Pokémon, themes this first film pushed harder than any episode before it.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the lower edge, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; a thin blue line consistent with a Dolby Digital data track is also visible between the perforations on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly cool; dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with an animated theatrical release print matching the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a dual bilateral variable-area optical track, a Dolby Digital data strip between perforations, saturated dye image, and 35mm four-perforation layout is consistent with a late-1990s theatrical 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
