Crown Grading
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FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise expanded from handheld games and television into feature film distribution. It introduced American audiences to Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose story of identity and origin gave the series an unexpected weight beside its merchandising success. The film became a box office phenomenon, cementing Pokémon's place in late-nineties pop culture and proving that a video game property could command a theatrical run alongside the era's animated features.
This cell comes from the trailer that announced the film to audiences, a single frame preserved from the reels used to build anticipation ahead of release. Mewtwo stands at the center of that promotional effort, the character whose presence signaled this was more than a typical Pokémon adventure. Trailer material from this period holds particular appeal for collectors, offering a glimpse of how the studio chose to introduce its most complex creation to the public before the film itself defined him.
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 four frames.
- Perforations
- Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
- Soundtrack
- A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) waveform pattern; a narrow Dolby Digital data-block strip also appears to be present in the inter-perforation zone 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-tinted cast consistent with a colour dye image; the image appears saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
- Projection history
- No visible splices, cue marks, or heavy scratching are apparent; the surface appears consistent with a projected release print.
- Picture
- Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with animated content from the film on record.
- Era check
- The combination of a variable-area optical track with what appears to be a Dolby Digital inter-perforation data strip is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print, as that format was standard for major studio releases of that period.
