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 4Kids Entertainment as the follow-up to the franchise's blockbuster theatrical debut, riding the height of Pokémania in American theaters. Adapted from the Japanese feature Revelation Lugia, it introduced Western audiences to a broader mythology beyond Pikachu and the original starters, centering on legendary birds and the guardian of the seas. For fans and collectors of early Pokémon cinema, this release marks a key moment when the franchise proved it could sustain a theatrical universe on a larger, more mythic scale.
This cell preserves a strip devoted to Lugia, the psychic dual-type legendary who anchors the film's central conflict and gives the movie its alternate title. As a figure absent from the games at the time and reserved for this cinematic event, Lugia carries particular weight for collectors tracing the character's earliest screen appearances. A cell isolating this legendary alone, without trainers or supporting Pokémon in frame, functions as a focused artifact from the print, the kind of single-subject strip archivists and franchise completists especially seek when building a collection around the film's key legendary presence.
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 two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly cut with no torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area lines consistent with a stereo optical print; additional data lines are present that are consistent with a Dolby Digital or DTS timecode strip running alongside.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a blue-tinted clear stock; the dye image reads with strong blue and violet saturation, appearing neither faded nor red-shifted.
Projection history
Light horizontal lines are visible across the frame area consistent with projection wear; no splices or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the animated imagery is consistent with the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 theatrical release print.
Era check
The bilateral variable-area optical track combined with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data strip and blue-tinted polyester base stock is consistent with a 1999–2000 theatrical release print of this title.
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
