Pokemon: The First Movie arrived in November 1999, a Warner Bros. release that brought Nintendo's phenomenon to American theaters at the height of Pokemon mania. Built around the anime's feature debut, it paired the Mewtwo origin story with a Pikachu short and became one of the year's surprise box office successes, cementing the franchise's foothold in mainstream pop culture beyond video games and trading cards.
This cell comes from the trailer reel, the promotional footage cut to build anticipation ahead of the film's release, and it centers on Mew. As the rare, mythical Pokemon whose existence set the entire plot in motion, Mew carries outsized significance for collectors, standing as the genetic origin point for Mewtwo and one of the franchise's most sought-after figures. A trailer appearance places this frame among the earliest publicly circulated images of the character on film, valuable for marking that introduction.
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 edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes have clean, rounded corners.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual-bilateral waveform pattern consistent with a stereo optical track; a thin blue line consistent with a Dolby Digital data stripe is also visible immediately above the optical track area.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The clear base shows a neutral-to-slight-blue tint; the dye image appears fully saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks, or heavy scratching are apparent; the image area appears consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the subject matter is consistent with promotional material for the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a dual-bilateral optical stereo track, a Dolby Digital stripe, and a fully saturated dye image on a safety base is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print of the period.
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
