Pokémon: The Movie 2000 hit American theaters in the summer of that year, riding the crest of the franchise's first great wave of popularity. Distributed by Warner Bros. in the US after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's original Japanese production, it followed hot on the heels of the first Pokémon film and cemented the series as a theatrical force beyond television and trading cards. For a generation of young fans, this was event cinema, complete with promotional trailers that ran heavily on television and before other family films, building anticipation for a story centered on the legendary bird Pokémon Lugia.
This trailer cell captures Ash Ketchum and Pikachu together with Lugia, the legendary Pokémon whose presence anchors the film's plot and mythology. Ash is the franchise's enduring protagonist, Pikachu his inseparable partner, and their pairing with Lugia signals the scale and wonder the movie promised audiences in 2000. As a trailer cell, it represents the marketing artifact meant to sell that spectacle, a single frame pulled from the reel used to entice theatergoers. For collectors, the combination of these three figures in one piece of promotional film is a notable pull from the era's merchandise.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no visible torn or deformed holes
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight cyan-blue tint consistent with a colour release print; dye image appears neutral with no visible fading or red shift
Projection history
Light horizontal abrasion lines are visible across the strip, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot and the animated content is consistent with Pokémon: The Movie 2000
Era check
The variable-area optical soundtrack, colour positive print, and cyan-tinted base stock are all consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print from around 2000
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
