Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in late 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bet that a Saturday morning phenomenon could fill theaters, pairing the Mewtwo origin story with a Pikachu short to capture a franchise at its commercial peak. The theatrical trailer that preceded it did essential work: introducing uninitiated parents and hooking the already converted young audience with a rapid survey of the roster before the feature even opened. These trailer frames are a historical marker of that moment, when Pokémon crossed from television into mainstream cinema.
This cell, titled Ash & Pokemon, gathers the franchise's central trainer alongside a wide cross-section of his world: Pikachu, the enduring mascot, alongside Squirtle and Bulbasaur, early starter favorites, and the more formidable Charizard, Scyther, Gyarados, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Rapidash, and Sandslash. Assembling so many creatures in a single trailer image speaks to the scale the film promised, a roster shot meant to signal variety and spectacle to audiences deciding whether to buy a ticket. For collectors, this is a foundational trailer moment, Ash positioned amid the breadth of the Pokémon universe at the instant it entered theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames, with the first and last cut by the strip ends.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with clean rounded-rectangle punches and no torn or missing holes in this capture.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and a speckled Dolby Digital data block sits in each gap between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue-teal tint along both edges; the dye image shows saturated colour with no obvious fade or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip is curved on the panel and appears clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames repeat one near-identical shot, consistent with a trailer of Pokémon: The First Movie, whose cast it shows.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical tracks with Dolby Digital data blocks suit a 1999 35mm trailer on a tinted-edge print stock.
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
