Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in the wake of the franchise's explosive American debut, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and 4Kids built a merchandising and media juggernaut from the original Game Boy games. The film, known in Japan as Revelation Lugia, followed the surprise theatrical success of the first Pokémon movie and pushed the property further into mainstream family entertainment. Trailers for the film circulated widely in theaters and on promotional reels, giving audiences their first glimpses of the legendary Pokémon at the story's center. This period marked the height of Pokémon's cultural saturation, with the franchise's mythology expanding beyond the games and television series into cinema.
This cell preserves a trailer moment centered on Lugia, the legendary Pokémon whose presence anchors the film's plot and marketing. Lugia has long held a special standing among collectors as one of the most sought-after legendary designs, prized for its rarity in games and its central role in this movie's promotion. A trailer cell such as this represents the studio's effort to tease the character's grandeur to audiences ahead of release, using Lugia's emergence as a hook. For collectors, it stands as an artifact of that early promotional push.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000 Trailer.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds two frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a separate digital data region (consistent with a Dolby Digital block pattern) visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a cool blue-violet tint consistent with a colour dye image; no obvious red shift or fading is apparent.
Projection history
Faint longitudinal lines are visible running the length of the strip, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; both frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated style is consistent with the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 trailer on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and colour positive stock is consistent with a 35mm theatrical release or trailer print from the year 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
