Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in American theaters in July of that year, distributed by Warner Bros. as the second theatrical outing built from the Japanese anime phenomenon sweeping toy aisles and Saturday mornings alike. Following the surprise box office strength of the first film, this sequel leaned into the franchise's mythology of Legendary Pokémon, introducing Lugia, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres to a generation of young viewers and their parents who had been swept into Pokémania. It stands as a snapshot of peak merchandising era animation, when a single property could dominate cinemas, card shops, and cartoon blocks simultaneously.
Moltres, the fire and flame Legendary bird, holds a firm place among collectors of this release for representing one third of the elemental trio whose imbalance drives the film's central crisis. A cell bearing this name marks a moment belonging specifically to that creature, isolated from its companion Legendaries and from the human cast entirely. For collectors assembling sets around the Legendary birds, a Moltres cell completes a thematic grouping, standing as a single-subject artifact of the mythology that gave this movie its stakes and spectacle.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as two bilateral variable-area tracks with a Dolby Digital data block strip visible between the picture and the optical tracks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base shows a cyan-tinted clear stock consistent with modern safety polyester; the dye image appears neutral with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen.
Picture
Positive colour image; the two frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated style is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The combination of cyan-base polyester stock, bilateral variable-area optical track, and Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations is consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
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
