CrownGrading Pro
Crown Portal
Submit cards Submissions Start your submissions Submission walkthrough Grading process Pre-Grade estimator Film authentication Programs Crown Ascension Crown Royal Tier Resources About Crown CrownStandard Knowledge Center CrownVault Contact Crown Portal
Ready to grade your cards? Submit Cards →
Crown Grading

Crown Grading

OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000064932 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokemon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEMew
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000064932

FILM NOTES

Pokemon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo tested whether a television phenomenon could translate into theatrical box office. Backed by 4Kids Entertainment's dub and a marketing push aimed squarely at the franchise's young fanbase, the trailer campaign preceding the film played a crucial role in building anticipation, running in theaters months ahead of release. The movie's success helped cement Pokemon as a global media empire rather than a passing craze, and surviving trailer material from this period is scarce compared to reels from the feature itself.

This cell preserves a moment from that trailer built around Mew, the rare and mythical Pokemon whose existence drives the film's plot and whose scarcity within the Pokemon universe mirrors its scarcity among collectors of physical ephemera. A trailer cell differs from a film-print frame in purpose: it exists to entice, to compress mystery into a single strip of celluloid meant for theatergoers rather than continuity. Owning a Mew frame from this early promotional run connects directly to the character's introduction to Western audiences, before the film itself had even opened.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

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

Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge of the picture area, appearing as a narrow band with a modulated waveform; Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks are also visible between the lower perforations, consistent with a dual-format optical release print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote any manufacturer code, key number, or safety text.
Base & colour
The base shows a cool blue-tinted clear stock; the dye image is strongly saturated in deep violet-purple with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames run consecutively as a single continuous shot and the visual content is consistent with the Pokemon: The First Movie promotional trailer on record.
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track, and the cool-tinted polyester-base stock, is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1999-1999 release window 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 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