Warner Bros. released Pokémon: The First Movie in American theaters in November 1999, riding the crest of a phenomenon that had already conquered Game Boy screens, trading cards, and Saturday morning television. The teaser reel circulating ahead of release introduced American audiences to the film's roster beyond the familiar television cast, signaling that this was a theatrical event with higher stakes and new creatures to meet. For a generation of collectors, this trailer represents the hinge point when Pokémon moved from a TV curiosity to a box office force, making any surviving 35mm strip from its promotional run a tangible artifact of that transition.
This cell, identified as Ash & Pokemon, gathers the franchise's central trainer alongside Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, the starter creatures most associated with the show's early seasons, plus Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Gyarados, three larger and more formidable Pokémon that hint at the film's expanded scale. As a trailer cell, its purpose was to entice, assembling familiar and imposing figures together to promise audiences a bigger adventure. For collectors, the pairing of Ash with this particular lineup marks a moment when the roster itself became the pitch.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds four full frames, shown rotated on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two bilateral tracks runs beside the picture, and speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base, and the dye image looks saturated and neutral with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the strip shows a gentle curl but no visible abrasion or handling lines.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated Pokémon artwork is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus an analog optical track on a blue-tinted base fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching a 1999 trailer for this 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
