Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, riding the crest of the franchise's first great wave of popularity in the West. Distributed through Warner Bros. and built around 4Kids' English dub, the film paired the story of Mewtwo's origin with a Pikachu short and a merchandising push that made it one of the defining kids' theatrical events of the year. Its trailer campaign was instrumental in priming a generation of young audiences for the franchise's leap from television to the big screen, and reels from that promotional run are now sought after as artifacts of that crossover moment.
This cell preserves a strip from that trailer bearing Mew, the legendary Pokémon whose rarity and mythic status made it central to the film's marketing mystery. As a trailer fragment, it represents the industry's promotional apparatus rather than a narrative scene, a single strip meant to entice rather than explain. Mew's inclusion alone carries weight for collectors, since the character anchors the film's mythology and its merchandising tie-ins, making any surviving trailer material tied to her a modest but genuine piece of Pokémon's theatrical history.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokemon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even; punched edges look clean with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a bilateral variable-area waveform.
Edge print
Top edge reads, mirrored: '2382 189 022 0'; no additional SAFETY FILM text is legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight blue-green tint consistent with estar or acetate safety stock; dye image appears vivid with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across both frames, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be the same shot, consistent with consecutive frames from a theatrical release trailer matching the film on record.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, key-number format, and vivid dye saturation are all consistent with a 1999 US 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
