Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the television phenomenon onto the big screen, backed by Pikachu's Vacation as a companion short and a marketing push that made it an event for a generation raised on the franchise's first wave. The trailer that preceded it in theaters did the job trailers are built for: establishing stakes, introducing the ensemble, and selling the big-screen scale of a world audiences already knew from weekly episodes. For collectors, these promotional strips carry their own historical weight, separate from the feature itself, as artifacts of how a cultural moment was pitched to the public.
This cell gathers Ash Ketchum alongside Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, the core grouping that anchored the franchise's early identity. Ash is the human throughline for the series, the trainer audiences followed, while Pikachu remains its signature draw, the character most responsible for Pokémon's crossover into mainstream recognition. Squirtle and Bulbasaur round out the starter lineup, figures collectors prize for their place at the very foundation of the property. As a trailer frame, the cell represents that moment of introduction and promise, the assembled cast presented together to signal what the film offers before the story even begins.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The First Movie (1999) trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames in view.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shaped and cleanly punched with no tears seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the lower edge beside the picture, and speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit between the perforations on that same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue-cyan tint along both edges; the dye image looks neutral and saturated, with no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices or cue marks show on these four frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames repeat one near-identical shot, and the cartoon-style artwork is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical track plus Dolby Digital data blocks on a colour positive base fits a 1999 35mm theatrical 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
