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 tested how far the franchise's early television momentum could carry into theaters. Built around Mewtwo's origin and the clash between original Pokémon and their cloned counterparts, the film became a cultural marker for a generation raised on the trading cards and Game Boy titles, cementing Pokémon as a genuine cinematic property rather than a passing fad.
This cell preserves the Blastoise Clone and Charizard Clone, two of the artificially made Pokémon central to the film's premise of duplication and identity. Collectors seek these clone designs specifically because they represent the movie's central conflict made visible, distinct from their standard counterparts and tied directly to Mewtwo's experiment. Having both clones together on a single strip of 35mm makes this a pairing prized by those tracing the film's core narrative through physical artifacts, a tangible piece of the production's animation history from that pivotal theatrical release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie.
Gauge
35mm; the strip holds four frames, each with four perforations per frame on both edges.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a two-track variable-area format; a thin blue line consistent with a Dolby Digital data stripe is also visible between the optical track and the perforations on the bottom edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-green tint consistent with modern safety polyester stock; the dye image reads as saturated and neutral with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen in this capture.
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 polyester base, variable-area optical track with a Dolby Digital data stripe, and saturated positive dye image is consistent with a 1999-1999 theatrical release print of this title.
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
