Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000, released by Warner Bros. and 4Kids Entertainment as the second theatrical entry in the franchise, arrived at the height of Pokémania in the United States, following swiftly on the heels of the original film's box office success. Built around the legend of the Legendary Birds and the collector Lawrence III's obsession with capturing them, the picture was as much a marketing event as a movie, tying together the trading card game, the animated series, and a wave of licensed merchandise into a single theatrical experience aimed squarely at a generation raised on Game Boy cartridges and booster packs.
This 35mm cell carries the Ancient Mew card, a piece tied directly to one of the franchise's most sought promotional artifacts. The physical Ancient Mew card was distributed exclusively to theatergoers during the film's initial run, printed in an invented ancient script and later translated into an origin story for Mew and Mewtwo. Its appearance here situates the reel alongside the film's promotional apparatus, a strip likely drawn from a trailer, insert, or credits sequence built to showcase the card itself. For collectors, it represents the intersection of cinema and tangible tie-in ephemera from that era.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds one frame.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data block pattern visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to quote characters reliably.
Base & colour
Base shows a slight blue-green tint consistent with modern safety stock; dye image appears neutral with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; a single frame is present showing imagery consistent with an animated theatrical release print matching Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Era check
The combination of variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, blue-tinted polyester safety base, and positive colour print is consistent with a late-1990s to early-2000s theatrical release print.
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
