Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew arrived in 2006 as the eighth entry in the theatrical Pokémon franchise, produced by OLM under Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's supervision and distributed for a global audience already devoted to the series. It marked a notable technical step forward for the franchise, folding early CGI work into its traditional animation to render Lucario and the film's setting with added depth. Coming at the midpoint of the anime's long theatrical run, it stands as a favorite among fans for pairing a new, tragic hero with the franchise's most enduring mascot.
This cell holds Pikachu in a moment of smiling, a piece of animation that speaks to the character's role as the emotional throughline of every Pokémon film regardless of that entry's darker turns. Pikachu remains the single most collected figure from this franchise, and any frame capturing warmth rather than battle or peril carries particular appeal to those building a collection around companionship and tone. Isolated on 35mm, this cell preserves one small beat of that continuity, a fragment pulled from the reel rather than a marketing still, and valued for what it quietly represents.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (2006).
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 cyan-tinted horizontal band runs below the picture area; no variable-area optical track, Dolby Digital inter-perforation blocks, DTS timecode line, or SDDS outer-edge data are visible in this capture.
Edge print
Text reading 'FUJICOLOR' is visible along the top edge, printed in reverse, indicating emulsion-up orientation.
Base & colour
Base carries a warm cream-yellow tint; the dye image reads as a positive with saturated yellows and blues, no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks, or cue marks are seen in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; both frames appear to be from the same continuous shot, and the animated character visible is consistent with the Pokémon franchise as recorded.
Era check
Fujicolor stock, a positive print with saturated cel-animation dye image, and the absence of visible analogue optical track are consistent with a 2006 Japanese animated 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
