Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon 4Ever arrived in 2002 as the fourth theatrical feature from the franchise, produced by OLM under Nintendo and The Pokémon Company and distributed in the West by Miramax. It marked the debut of the Time-Travel Pokémon, Celebi, and served as a bridge between the original Kanto-Johto era and the newer generation of games and characters entering the anime. For longtime fans it holds a place as one of the more mythologically dense entries in the early film run, tying the show's ongoing story of guardianship and forests to a single rare creature.
This cell pairs Ash Ketchum with Celebi, a legendary tied directly to the film's central plot rather than a background cameo, which makes it a natural focal point for collectors assembling pieces around Celebi's introduction. Framed as it is around these two figures alone, it likely comes from a moment of direct connection between trainer and legendary, the kind of pairing studios favored for trailers and key art since it distills the film's premise into a single relationship. Such cells are prized precisely because they isolate the meeting at the story's heart.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon 4Ever (2002).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A cyan-coloured band runs along the lower edge of the picture area, consistent in appearance with a Dolby Digital data block strip between the perforations and the picture; a variable-area optical track also appears present as a narrower white-dashed line within that band.
Edge print
The letters 'CL' are visible near the lower-right corner of the strip; no key numbers or manufacturer text are legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-cream tint typical of processed acetate or polyester safety stock; dye image reads as neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the animated character style and colour palette are consistent with the Pokémon 4Ever (2002) theatrical release print.
Era check
The combination of a cyan Dolby Digital inter-perforation data strip, optical track, and the warm safety-base stock is consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print from the early 2000s, matching the 2002 release date 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
