Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters through Warner Bros. and Nintendo's Pokémon USA partnership, riding the crest of the franchise's explosive late-90s American breakthrough. As the second theatrical feature, it capitalized on the fever surrounding the original 151 creatures, pulling young audiences already devoted to the television series and trading card craze into cinemas for a story built around legendary birds and elemental balance. For a generation, it stands as a marker of just how completely Pokémon had saturated popular culture by the millennium.
This piece centers the franchise's defining pair, Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, whose bond forms the emotional spine of every Pokémon story. Collectors seek out cells bearing these two together because they represent the core relationship the entire property is built upon, trainer and partner, rather than any single supporting creature or villain. As a strip drawn from this feature, it offers a physical trace of the animation produced for the film's theatrical run, a tangible link to the movie's release rather than to the television series that preceded it.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two frames side by side in a dual-frame layout across the strip width
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded rectangular profiles; both top and bottom edges visible
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the picture area, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks with a DTS timecode line also present as a dashed line running alongside
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers
Base & colour
Base shows a cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour print stock; dye image appears saturated and not visibly faded or red-shifted
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks or heavy scratching are apparent; the print shows no obvious evidence of heavy projection use
Picture
Positive colour image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated style is consistent with the Pokémon feature film on record
Era check
The combination of bilateral variable-area optical track, DTS timecode stripe, cyan-base colour stock, and rounded KS-type perforations is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s to early 2000s, matching the 2000 release date 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
