Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's gamble on bringing the phenomenon to American theaters, pairing an original feature with a Pikachu short to capture a fanbase still at its peak. The film became a box office success and a defining artifact of the franchise's early expansion into film, with its marketing campaign, including teaser and theatrical trailers, playing a major role in building anticipation among young audiences and collectors who grew up with the craze.
This cell comes from a trailer reel, the promotional footage cut and circulated ahead of the film's release to stir excitement in theaters and on television. Mewtwo stands as one of the franchise's most sought-after characters, a genetically engineered Pokémon whose origin and conflict anchor the movie's plot, making any trailer appearance a notable piece of the promotional history. Paired with the Clone Pokemon, this moment reflects the film's central premise of artificial creation and duplication, themes that made the movie's advertising distinct from the television series and gave early viewers a glimpse of its darker, more ambitious tone.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds four frames, one partly cropped at the left.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform in shape.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, plus Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted clear base at both edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the dark areas of the frames look clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames repeat one near-identical shot consecutively, and the animated characters are consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: dual optical analog track plus Dolby Digital blocks suits a 1999 theatrical run, though no edge print confirms the stock.
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
