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OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000068709 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokémon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEAsh & Pokemon
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000068709

FILM NOTES

Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the United States in November 1999, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and the Pokémon Company brought the franchise's theatrical debut overseas following its original 1998 Japanese release. Riding the height of Pokémania, the film introduced Mewtwo to American audiences and became a cultural touchstone for a generation raised on the trading cards, games, and television series. Its marketing push, including theatrical trailers distributed on 35mm, played a major role in building anticipation for the feature and remains a documented part of the franchise's early promotional history.

This cell preserves a moment from that trailer reel, pairing Ash Ketchum, the franchise's central trainer and the figure most identified with its global success, alongside his Pokémon. As a trailer fragment rather than a scene from the finished film, it belongs to the promotional material built to generate excitement ahead of release, a category collectors value for its scarcity and its direct link to the marketing campaign that introduced Pokémon to American theaters. The pairing of Ash with his Pokémon reflects the partnership at the heart of the series' appeal.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).

Gauge
35mm layout: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, all lying sideways on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or stretched holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, inboard of the lower perforations, with a speckled, grainy band at the lower edge; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS line or SDDS tracks seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base has a blue-cyan tint along the edge margins; the dye image shows saturated, balanced colour with no fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices, and the only anomaly is a faint oval reflection on the middle frame, ignored as a camera artefact.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames show one continuous, near-identical shot, and the animated characters are consistent with Pokémon: The First Movie.
Era check
A 35mm print with analogue optical sound and a clean base fits a 1999 theatrical release print, since that era used optical tracks alongside digital formats.
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 Capture As received
The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size