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OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000064899 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokemon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEMew
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000064899

FILM NOTES

Pokemon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's attempt to translate a television and trading card phenomenon into a theatrical event, and the campaign leading up to its release was as closely watched as the film itself. Trailers for the picture circulated widely in theaters and on home video, building anticipation among a young audience that had never seen the franchise on the big screen. This particular strip of trailer footage sits at that cultural pivot point, a marketing artifact from the moment Pokemon crossed from small screen to cinema.

This cell isolates Mew, the rare and mythical Pokemon whose scarcity within the games and card sets made it an object of fascination for a generation of collectors. As a trailer cutting, the frame belongs to the promotional apparatus built to sell the film before release, a piece designed to tease rather than narrate. Mew's presence alone signals the movie's central mystery, the search for the original Pokemon, and for collectors this cell represents an early glimpse of that character offered to audiences ahead of the story proper.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).

Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds two frames in this capture.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes have clean, rounded corners with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible along the bottom edge, showing two bilateral variable-area lines consistent with a stereo optical track; a thin blue line adjacent to the track area is also visible, consistent with a Dolby SR or similar encoded optical format.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-teal tint along the border strips; the image area is very dense and dark, consistent with a heavily exposed or underlit negative-density positive frame.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines are visible across the image area, consistent with light base scratching from projection or handling.
Picture
The image appears to be a positive print; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the faint character silhouette visible is consistent with promotional trailer content for the film on record.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, blue-tinted polyester base stock, and perforation style are all consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print era.
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 Capture As received
The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size