Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of the franchise's explosive American debut. The trailer promoting it was a cultural event in its own right, airing ahead of the feature and stoking anticipation for a story built around Mewtwo, genetic engineering, and the cloned Pokémon that formed the film's central conflict. For a generation introduced to Pokémon through Saturday morning television and trading cards, this preview was often their first glimpse of the movie's darker, more ambitious tone.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer featuring a Clone Blastoise, one of the laboratory-made duplicates at the heart of the film's plot. Blastoise, the fully evolved form of Squirtle, was already a familiar and beloved figure to fans of the games and animated series, making its cloned counterpart a striking symbol of the film's premise. A trailer cell like this one captures a fragment of promotional film used to build excitement before release, a physical artifact from the marketing apparatus that introduced millions to Pokémon's first cinematic outing.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds four frames, with part of the first frame cropped at the left.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shaped and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A twin variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations; Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower perforations also look present.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue base tint along both edges; the dye image looks neutral with strong saturated colour and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices or cue marks are visible on the strip.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated style is plausible for the film on record, though the capture itself carries no title.
Era check
Twin optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a 35mm base is consistent with a late-1990s release-print trailer, which fits a 1999 film.
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
