Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the fall of 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo tested how far the franchise's television success could carry into theaters. Built around the anime's early momentum, the film introduced Mewtwo as a cinematic antagonist while pairing the story with a Pikachu short to anchor family audiences. Its release marked a high point of Pokémon mania in the West, and the promotional material that preceded it, including trailers cut for theatrical and broadcast use, became part of the franchise's early paper and film trail, now sought after by collectors tracing the series' theatrical debut.
This piece comes from a trailer reel bearing the phrase "Mew Attacks!" Mew, the rare and elusive Pokémon central to the film's plot, is one of the property's most coveted figures, prized for its mystique and its scarcity within the games and media that preceded the movie. A trailer cell like this served to tease the film's stakes, using Mew's presence to signal action and consequence ahead of release. For collectors, it stands as a fragment of the marketing campaign that introduced American audiences to the film's central conflict.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm; four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even; edges of the perforation holes appear cleanly punched with no visible tearing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge, with what appears to be a second parallel line consistent with a two-track or Dolby Stereo optical arrangement; a dense data-block region consistent with Dolby Digital is also visible between the perforations on the lower edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base appears to have a slight warm-to-neutral tint; the dye image reads as a strong magenta-violet, consistent with a colour release print with intact dye layers.
Projection history
No visible splices or cue marks; faint longitudinal lines are present across the frames, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot; the animated character and colour palette are consistent with a Pokémon theatrical release print.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations, and colour positive stock on a safety base is consistent with a 1999 US 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
