Pokemon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 through Warner Bros., riding the peak of Pokemania as the franchise crossed from television and trading cards into a full theatrical event. Its trailer campaign was instrumental in that crossover, teasing audiences with glimpses of the film's central conflict between original Pokemon and their genetically engineered clones. This promotional push helped cement the movie's status as a cultural milestone, introducing Mewtwo's origin story to millions while reinforcing the visual language that would define Pokemon's cinematic identity for years to come.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer campaign built around Venusaur, one of the franchise's original starter evolutions and a perennial favorite among collectors for its plant type design and its place in Pokemon's earliest roster. The Clone designation ties directly to the film's premise, in which duplicated Pokemon serve as both spectacle and emotional core. As a trailer frame, this piece functions as pure marketing material, a fragment designed to entice rather than narrate, capturing anticipation itself as much as any single character.
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 visible on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both visible edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes have clean, rounded corners.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical soundtrack is visible below the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks running the length of the strip.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a neutral to very slightly cool tint; the dye image reads with stable colour saturation and no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be the same or near-identical consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with an animated theatrical release print.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack format and the colour positive print stock are consistent with a 1999 North American theatrical release print 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
