Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to translate the era's biggest television and gaming phenomenon into a theatrical event. Built around the Mewtwo Strikes Back storyline, it was preceded by the short Pikachu's Vacation and became a cultural landmark for a generation raised on the franchise, drawing enormous box office numbers and cementing Pokémon's place in American pop culture. For film collectors, it stands as one of the defining anime crossover releases of the late 1990s, a snapshot of the moment the franchise fully entered mainstream cinema.
This cell preserves a moment featuring Psyduck, the perpetually addled water-type Pokémon known for its unpredictable psychic outbursts and its role as Misty's reluctant companion. Psyduck's popularity rests on its comic presence, offering lighter beats amid the film's larger conflict. A single 35mm frame from a scene like this represents a physical fragment of the movie's theatrical print, the kind of artifact collectors seek to hold a tangible piece of an animated milestone rather than a static promotional image.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour 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 running along one edge beside the picture area.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to slightly warm; dye image shows saturated colour with no visible fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splice marks or cue marks are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; a single frame is shown and the animated character visible is consistent with Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Era check
A variable-area optical track alongside a 35mm colour positive is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print of this title.
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
