Crown Grading
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FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros., riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise crossed from Game Boy screens and Saturday morning television into wide theatrical release. It brought Mewtwo's origin story to American audiences and became a cultural marker for a generation, grossing well beyond expectations and cementing Pokémon as a lasting cinematic property. The trailer that preceded it did essential work, teasing the film's central conflict and its most formidable creation before ticket buyers ever saw the feature itself.
This cell comes from that trailer, isolating Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose creation and struggle anchor the entire film. As a promotional frame rather than a scene from the movie proper, it belongs to the brief window when audiences were being introduced to Mewtwo as a figure of power and mystery, ahead of the story's fuller reveal. Collectors prize this character above nearly any other in the franchise's early catalog, and a trailer cell tied specifically to Mewtwo captures the character at the moment of first public unveiling.
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 both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges appear clean.
- Soundtrack
- A variable-area optical soundtrack track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the same edge.
- Edge print
- Not visible in this capture.
- Base & colour
- The base shows a cool blue-violet tint consistent with a dye-image colour print; no obvious fading or red shift is apparent.
- Projection history
- Light longitudinal lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
- Picture
- Positive colour image; all four frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the animated style is consistent with the Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999) on record.
- Era check
- The combination of a variable-area optical track with apparent Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations is consistent with a mid-to-late 1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1999 record date.
