Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine at the absolute peak of Pokémania, when the franchise was moving from Game Boy cartridges and Saturday morning television into a full theatrical event. The promotional trailer that preceded it was a critical piece of that rollout, built to stoke anticipation among a fanbase already primed by trading cards and merchandise. It promised audiences their first look at Mewtwo, clones, and a cinematic showdown, making the trailer itself a cultural artifact of that transitional moment when Pokémon proved it could fill movie theaters.
This cell preserves a frame from that trailer, pairing Blastoise with Charizard under the name Clone Blastoise, a direct reference to the film's central conceit of genetically duplicated Pokémon. Both creatures rank among the franchise's most recognizable starters turned icons, and their joint appearance in trailer material carries particular appeal since it signals the clone storyline that drove the film's marketing. For collectors, a trailer cell differs from a release print; it circulated only in advance of the feature, making it a snapshot of anticipation itself, tied to one of Pokémon's signature characters and the clone mythology that defined 1999's biggest animated event.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of the Pokémon: The First Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, with four consecutive frames on the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base with a neutral-to-cool dye image; no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices, and the one bright ring on a frame is a camera reflection.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one near-static shot of an animated armoured creature, consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Optical tracks with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching a 1999 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
