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OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000068722 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokémon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEMew & Pokemon
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000068722

FILM NOTES

Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise crossed from television into American theaters for the first time. Promotional trailers like this one circulated in advance of release, built to stoke anticipation among a fanbase still new to the idea of Pokémon on the big screen. The film's success at the box office cemented Pokémon as a lasting cinematic property, and surviving trailer material from this launch window remains a touchstone for collectors tracing the brand's earliest theatrical push.

This cell comes from that trailer reel and centers on Mew, the rare and mythical Pokémon whose mystery drove much of the film's marketing and plot. Mew's scarcity in the games and its central role in the story's conflict with Mewtwo make it one of the most sought-after characters tied to this release. A trailer cell like this one captures a promotional moment rather than a scene from the finished feature, preserving how the studio chose to introduce Mew and its fellow Pokémon to audiences anticipating the film's arrival.

Authentication Findings 8 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 about three and a half frames, with partial frames at each end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes; no torn, missing or stretched perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as wavy white-and-dark bands, with a speckled Dolby Digital data strip in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue clear base, with a neutral, saturated dye image showing no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip lies cleanly, with only the camera's reflected oval on one frame.
Picture
Positive colour image; the frames repeat as one consecutive shot, and the picture matches an animated Pokémon feature, consistent with the film on record.
Era check
A combined analogue optical track and Dolby Digital data blocks on a colour positive fits a late-1990s 35mm release print such as Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
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