Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in US theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., distributing 4Kids Entertainment's adaptation of the Japanese Mewtwo Strikes Back. Riding the crest of Pokémania, it was the franchise's theatrical debut in America, pairing the feature with the Pikachu's Vacation short and introducing a generation of young viewers to the series on the big screen. The promotional trailer that preceded it played constantly on television and before other films that year, becoming as recognizable to collectors as the movie itself, a time capsule of the moment Pokémon crossed from Saturday morning television into mainstream pop culture.
This cell comes from that trailer, a transition moment built to move an audience from one scene to the next. Ash Ketchum appears alongside Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle, the trainer and his familiar roster grounding the promotional reel in the show's core cast. Aerodactyl and Scyther bring in the film's rarer, more dramatic Pokémon, hinting at the larger-scale battles the movie promised beyond the television series. For collectors, trailer cells like this hold particular appeal: they document the marketing machine behind the franchise's theatrical breakthrough, preserving a transitional instant meant only to tease what was coming.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Kodak 2383 release print of the 1999 Pokémon: The First Movie trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four complete frames plus a partial frame at the left end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with the rounded-rectangle shape typical of 35mm and no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two parallel waveform lines, and speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the sprocket holes on that edge.
Edge print
Blue edge print reads, as photographed, "2383 207 084 0 10 K·ODAK 17 1999", running backwards because the strip is emulsion-up.
Base & colour
The clear base looks pale cyan-blue against the light panel, and the dye image shows full saturated colours with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
A few fine hairlines and one small speck are visible near the soundtrack area; no splices, cue marks or heavy scratching seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated look is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock coded 1999, with an optical track and Dolby Digital data blocks, is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print of this trailer.
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
