Crown Grading
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FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to translate the franchise's television and gaming success onto the big screen, riding the crest of Pokémania at its American peak. The film introduced Mewtwo as a tragic, engineered creation, giving the series an unexpected philosophical weight amid the merchandising frenzy. Its promotional trailer campaign was instrumental in building anticipation, running in theaters months ahead of release and cementing the movie as a cultural touchstone for a generation of young collectors and their families.
This cell preserves a frame from that trailer, isolating Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose origin and inner conflict drive the film's narrative. Mewtwo stands apart from the franchise's more approachable creatures, prized by collectors for its association with the film's darker, more ambitious tone. A trailer cell like this one represents the marketing apparatus that introduced audiences to the character before the film's release, a promotional artifact distinct from the feature print itself, capturing the moment Mewtwo was first positioned as the movie's central figure.
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 two frames.
- Perforations
- Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
- Soundtrack
- A variable-area optical track (appears dual-bilateral) runs along the bottom edge beside the perforations, with a thin timecode or pilot line visible above it, consistent with a Dolby analogue optical print.
- Edge print
- Not visible in this capture.
- Base & colour
- Base appears with a slight blue-green tint typical of safety acetate or polyester stock; dye image reads as neutral with no visible fading or red shift.
- Projection history
- No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks seen.
- Picture
- Positive colour image; both frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the animated character style is consistent with the Pokémon franchise film on record.
- Era check
- The dual variable-area optical soundtrack format and stock base colour are consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print, when analogue optical stereo was standard.
