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 a Warner Bros. release, bringing Japan's television phenomenon to American theaters in a bid to prove the franchise could carry a feature-length story. Built around Mewtwo's origin and the philosophical clash between cloned and original Pokémon, the film became a box office success and a defining artifact of the late-90s Pokémon craze, introducing millions of young viewers to their first taste of anime spectacle on the big screen.
This cell preserves a frame centered on the Blastoise Clone and Charizard Clone, two of the artificially created Pokémon central to the film's climactic confrontation on New Island. These clones represent the movie's core conceit, genetic copies pitted against their originals in a battle meant to settle whether nature or nurture defines identity. For collectors, clone-specific material is prized precisely because it isolates a plot thread unique to this film, unlike the franchise's ongoing television continuity. Owning a frame naming both creatures together captures the pairing that drove much of the movie's marketing and merchandising at the time.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, appearing as a dual bilateral (two-track) variable-area pattern; a row of small Dolby Digital data blocks is also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge, indicating a Dolby Digital optical print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cyan-teal tint consistent with modern safety polyester stock; dye image reads as neutral with strong, saturated colour rendition and no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks, or significant scratches are visible; the print shows no evidence of heavy projection use in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the animated character and mechanical imagery are consistent with the Pokémon franchise film on record.
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1999/1999 release window 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
