Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., following a teaser and trailer campaign that ran through 1998 and 1999 as part of Nintendo and 4Kids' push to bring the franchise from television to the big screen. It was a cultural landmark for the Pokémon boom, marking the moment the brand proved it could command theatrical audiences worldwide. The promotional trailers themselves became artifacts of that transition, circulated to build anticipation for Mewtwo's origin story and the clone army central to the film's plot.
This cell comes from that trailer material, capturing Mewtwo presiding over its assembled clones: Scyther, Rhydon, Blastoise, Gyarados, and Rhyhorn. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after figures, prized for its role as the film's tragic antagonist and its status as an early, genetically engineered original. A trailer cell like this one holds promotional rather than narrative weight, existing to announce spectacle and scale ahead of release. For collectors, it represents the moment audiences first glimpsed Mewtwo's command over its cloned forces, a pivotal image in the marketing buildup to the film's theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a single bilateral variable-area track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-green tint consistent with polyester safety stock; the dye image appears neutral with no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history
Light longitudinal lines are visible in the picture area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, and the animated content is consistent with the Pokémon franchise film on record.
Era check
The single bilateral variable-area optical track, blue-green polyester base, and colour dye image are all consistent with a 35mm release print from the late 1990s.
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
