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OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000068756 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokémon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEMewtwo
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000068756

FILM NOTES

FILM NOTES

Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing muscle, riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise's first theatrical feature in the West. It paired the animated film proper with the short Pikachu's Vacation, and its marketing push, including trailers like this one, primed American audiences already saturated with trading cards and Game Boy cartridges for a cinema event. The film became a box office phenomenon, cementing Pokémon as a mainstay of children's entertainment and proving that a video game and card property could command theatrical money on its own terms.

This cell comes from a trailer reel, the promotional footage cut and circulated ahead of release to build anticipation, and it centers on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon who serves as the film's central antagonist and tragic figure. Mewtwo's presence in early marketing signaled the story's more somber, philosophical register, a departure from the series' lighter television tone. Collectors prize Mewtwo material from this era because the character anchors the film's identity and because trailer cells capture the promotional moment before audiences ever saw the finished picture.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm release-print strip of the Pokémon: The First Movie trailer (1999).

Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four complete frames in view.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rectangular with rounded corners, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations in view.
Soundtrack
A pair of variable-area optical tracks runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode line or SDDS tracks are visible.
Edge print
Upper edge carries printed key numbers and codes, reading backwards, including "2383", "207 084" and a Kodak-style code, quoted as read.
Base & colour
Clear base shows a light cyan-blue tint at the edges; the dye image looks neutral to blue with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the bright circular spots on each frame are reflections and are not counted.
Picture
Positive image, four consecutive frames of one static shot, with a character figure inside a glowing blue sphere; consistent with an animated Pokémon title.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus dual optical tracks on 2383 print stock are consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching the 1999 date on record.
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