Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing arm, riding the crest of the franchise's first wave of American mania. Theaters paired it with a Pikachu short and sold out on opening weekend, cementing Pokémon as a theatrical property rather than just a television and card game phenomenon. The trailer campaign that preceded it was essential to that success, teasing a darker, more mythic entry than the show's episodic adventures, built around a genetically engineered Pokémon wrestling with questions of identity and purpose.
This cell captures a card from that trailer announcing the film by way of Mewtwo, the character whose creation and existential conflict drive the entire story. Mewtwo's presence on promotional material signaled the film's heavier ambitions, setting it apart from Ash and company's usual adventures. Trailer and title card cells like this one are prized by collectors as artifacts of first contact, the moment audiences were introduced to the film's stakes before ever entering the theater, preserving a piece of the marketing push that helped define Pokémon's leap to the big screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames in view, with a fifth partly hidden at the left edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A wavy variable-area optical track runs along one edge, appearing as two parallel tracks, with a speckled data-block band between the perforations on that edge, consistent with Dolby Digital.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue tint from the backlight; the dye image looks neutral to blue-toned with no obvious fade or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the blurry focus limits fine detail.
Picture
Positive image, four consecutive frames of one shot repeating the same title card; the 'MEWTWO' lettering matches the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits a 1999 35mm trailer, and the Mewtwo title card matches the Pokémon 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
