Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the United States in November 1999, released by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and 4Kids brought the franchise to its theatrical peak. Built on the anime series and the era's Pokémon mania, the film paired the Mewtwo Strikes Back feature with the short Pikachu's Vacation, and its trailer campaign became a cultural marker for millennium-era kids, sold on VHS, television spots, and promotional tie-ins that fed the collectibles boom surrounding the franchise.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer reel featuring Jessie, James, and Meowth, the trio known collectively as Team Rocket. As the series' recurring antagonists, they occupy a beloved niche among collectors, prized for comic relief and villainy that never overshadowed the show's central heroes. Their inclusion in a theatrical trailer cell signals their importance to the franchise's marketing identity even outside the main feature, a reminder that promotional reels captured supporting players as readily as protagonists in selling the film to audiences.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (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 one edge below the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral variable-area pattern; Dolby Digital data blocks are not clearly distinguishable at this size, and no DTS timecode line or SDDS outer-edge tracks are visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-green tint consistent with a safety acetate or polyester stock; the dye image reads as warm and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks, or heavy scratching are apparent; the frames appear consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the characters and logo markings are consistent with the Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999) on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, saturated dye image, and blue-tinted safety base are all consistent with a 1999 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
