Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo's Pokémon Company, riding the crest of the franchise's American breakthrough. Its trailer campaign was a cultural event in its own right, introducing audiences to Mewtwo and reintroducing them to the legendary Mew before the feature ever hit theaters. For a generation of collectors, these promotional strips are inseparable from the memory of Pokémania at its peak, when trading cards, television, and cinema converged into one shared moment.
This cell comes from that trailer footage and centers on Mew, the elusive Psychic type whose rarity and mythology made it a cornerstone of early Pokémon lore. Known for near mythic status among trainers, Mew's mere presence signaled something extraordinary to audiences first encountering it on the big screen. A trailer cell like this one preserves a fragment of that promotional moment, the brief glimpse meant to entice ticket buyers rather than tell the full story. As the piece's own naming indicates, Mew dodges here, a fitting note for a creature defined by elusiveness and legend.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge of the picture area, appearing as a narrow light-modulated stripe; Dolby Digital data blocks are also visible in the inter-perforation gaps 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 shows a cool blue-violet tint consistent with a colour print stock; the dye image reads with strong purple-blue saturation and no obvious fading.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible along the lower portion of the strip, consistent with a print that has been projected.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated character visible is consistent with the Pokémon franchise film on record.
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks, and colour print stock is consistent with a 1999 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
