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., following the anime's explosive television debut and the franchise's rapid takeover of toy aisles, trading cards, and playground conversation. Produced by OLM and 4Kids, it introduced Mewtwo as a tragic, engineered antagonist, giving the franchise's first cinematic outing a darker, more philosophical edge than the show typically offered. For a generation of young viewers, this was their first trip to a Pokémon movie theater, making the release a genuine cultural milestone rather than mere merchandise extension.
This cell places Team Rocket, the franchise's recurring comic antagonists Jessie, James, and Meowth, inside Mewtwo's laboratory setting, a location central to the film's origin story and its themes of genetic creation and identity. Collectors seek Team Rocket material for its blend of humor and continuity, as the trio appears throughout the series in scheming, often self-defeating roles. Their presence within Mewtwo's domain suggests an intersection of comic relief and the film's more serious science fiction backdrop, a pairing that made the movie distinctive among its television counterparts.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
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 deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single-track analog stripe; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, indicating a Dolby Digital / analog SR combined print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a rich, saturated color positive with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint horizontal lines consistent with light projection wear are visible across the frame area; no splices or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive color image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the stylized mechanical imagery is consistent with title-sequence or promotional artwork associated with the film on record.
Era check
The combined Dolby Digital inter-perforation data block and analog variable-area optical track configuration is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s, matching the 1999 release date 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
