Warner Bros. released Pokémon: The First Movie in November 1999, riding the wave of the franchise's explosive arrival in American pop culture. Adapted and reworked from Japan's Mewtwo Strikes Back, the film introduced Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon wrestling with questions of identity and purpose, to a generation of young viewers who had only known the games and television series. Its theatrical trailer played heavily in advance of release, building anticipation with glimpses of the film's central conflict. For many collectors, this era represents the franchise at its commercial and cultural peak, when Pokémon fever was impossible to escape.
This cell comes from that promotional trailer, capturing a transition point among Pikachu, Squirtle, and Mewtwo. Pikachu remains the franchise's most recognized face, a perennial draw for collectors regardless of format. Squirtle's presence ties the piece to the original starter lineup beloved by early fans. Mewtwo's inclusion signals the film's emotional core, as this cell sits within a trailer's work of compressing narrative stakes into fleeting, enticing glimpses meant to pull audiences toward the theater.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames, with a fifth partly cut off at the left.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform across the strip.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly pale base with a neutral to slightly blue-leaning cast, and the dye image looks saturated, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Not visible in this capture
Picture
Positive colour image, four consecutive frames of one continuous shot, and the animated cartoon-style artwork is consistent with the film on record, which is an animated feature.
Era check
A variable-area optical track combined with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations matches a late-1990s 35mm release print, so it fits 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
