Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., following Nintendo's original Japanese release earlier that year. It served as the franchise's cinematic debut, translating the wildly popular television series and trading card phenomenon into a feature-length event. The film became a cultural marker of the era, drawing enormous box office numbers and introducing a generation of young audiences to the mythology of Mewtwo's origins, with Mew woven throughout as the ancestral counterpart at the center of that story. Its success cemented Pokémon as a lasting cross-media franchise rather than a passing trend.
This cell holds Mew alone, the rare and legendary Pokémon whose genetic material forms the basis for Mewtwo's creation, making it central to the film's origin narrative. Collectors seek Mew material for its scarcity within the wider Pokémon canon and its symbolic weight as the original template of the species mythology. A single-subject 35mm cell like this one isolates that character from the surrounding narrative, offering a physical fragment of the actual release print. For enthusiasts of the franchise's earliest cinematic era, owning a piece tied directly to Mew connects a collection to the foundational mythology of the entire Pokémon film series.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds one frame.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible below the frame on the lower portion of the strip, appearing as two parallel wavy lines consistent with a stereo variable-area optical track; Dolby Digital data blocks are not clearly distinguishable at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a slight warm-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a deep blue field with a pale animated figure, showing no obvious colour shift or fading.
Projection history
Light surface scratches are visible across the frame area, consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive image; a single frame is shown with a pale animated character against a deep blue background, consistent with the animated feature on record.
Era check
A stereo variable-area optical track on a 35mm positive print is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie, which carried analogue optical audio.
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
