Warner Bros. handled distribution for Pokémon: The First Movie in North America, bringing Nintendo's franchise to theaters in November 1999 at the height of Pokémon's crossover into Western popular culture. The film arrived alongside a trading card craze and a Saturday morning cartoon already embedded in a generation's routine, and the theatrical trailer played a key role in building anticipation ahead of release. Promotional reels from this campaign circulated through theater chains and were often discarded once the run ended, making surviving trailer footage from this era a scarce artifact of the franchise's early theatrical push.
This cell, drawn from that trailer, groups Ash Ketchum with Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Scyther, assembling several of the franchise's most recognizable figures into a single frame. Ash anchors the roster as the series' central trainer, while Pikachu remains the franchise's defining mascot, a figure collectors consistently seek out above nearly any other. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Scyther round out the ensemble, representing the broader cast fans were being introduced to as the film expanded the roster beyond the television series. As a trailer cell, it belongs to the promotional material meant to draw audiences into theaters, preserving a moment built for advertising rather than narrative.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes, no tears or torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two tracks runs beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base with a cream edge band; the dye image looks neutral to slightly warm, with no obvious fading.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices visible across the four frames.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one shot of animated Pokémon characters, which matches the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, since the analogue optical track paired with Dolby Digital data blocks was the standard theatrical format then.
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
