Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived from Warner Bros. and Nintendo/4Kids Entertainment in the wake of the first film's enormous success, riding the peak of Pokémania in the West. Adapted from the Japanese feature Revelation Lugia, it introduced American audiences to the Legendary Birds and the guardian of the seas, expanding the mythology beyond Pikachu and the core cast. As a theatrical follow-up, it cemented Pokémon as a lasting cinematic franchise rather than a one-off phenomenon, and its imagery became widely circulated in promotional material of the era.
This 35mm cell preserves Lugia alone, the psychic and flying-type guardian central to the film's plot and one of the most sought-after Legendary Pokémon among collectors. Lugia's presence anchors the movie's environmental themes, and a solitary frame of this character carries weight simply through scarcity and recognition. Isolated from dialogue or supporting figures, the cell reads as a pure character study, the kind of single-subject frame prized for representing a pivotal figure without competing visual elements, useful for collectors building a focused roster of Legendary appearances from this release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds one frame fully visible with partial frames above and below.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even; perforation edges appear cleanly punched with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area lines; 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 cool-neutral tint; the dye image reads with strong blue, white and dark tones consistent with a well-retained colour print.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks or cue marks are seen in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; the single fully visible frame shows animated content consistent with the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 theatrical release.
Era check
A bilateral variable-area optical track on 35mm positive print stock is consistent with a year-2000 theatrical release print, as that format was standard for that 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
