Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the franchise's television momentum into theaters, riding the peak of Pokémania in the West. The trailer preceding it served as audiences' first theatrical glimpse of Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose storyline reframed the series around questions of identity and purpose rather than simple adventure. For a generation raised on the show, this marketing push was the moment the franchise declared itself a cinematic property, not just a cartoon extension.
This cell preserves a strip from that early promotional reel, built around the confrontation between Mewtwo and the Pokémon it faces. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters among collectors, prized for its central role in the film's conflict and its standing as the series' first major antagonist with genuine depth. A trailer cell like this one offers a piece of the promotional apparatus itself, the footage assembled to introduce theatergoers to the stakes of the film before its release, making it a document of anticipation as much as of the story.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames, arranged as two near-identical pairs.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform along the whole strip.
Soundtrack
A wavy variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as a double bi-lateral pair; the gaps between the lower perforations show Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Blue edge print reads, as seen, "2383 207 084 0 10 KODAK 17 1999" with a small square mark, printed backwards.
Base & colour
Neutral clear base with light blue edge tint; the dye image looks saturated and unfaded, with no red shift visible.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the strip curves slightly on the panel.
Picture
Positive image; frames come in consecutive pairs from two shots, and the animated style fits the film on record.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock with a 1999 date code, an optical track and Dolby Digital blocks all fit a 1999 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
