Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros., Nintendo, and 4Kids Entertainment, riding the first great wave of Pokémon mania in the West. Adapted from the Japanese feature, it introduced American audiences to Mewtwo's origin story in theaters, backed by an aggressive promotional campaign of trailers, tie-in merchandise, and television spots. For a generation of young collectors, this was the moment Pokémon crossed from handheld games and cards into mainstream cinema, making the surrounding promotional material, including trailer cuttings like this one, a documented piece of that crossover.
This cell draws from the film's trailer and centers on Mewtwo alongside a Venusaur and its cloned counterpart, reflecting the film's core premise of genetic duplication and the ethical weight Mewtwo carries as a created being. Venusaur, a well-known original starter evolution, paired with its clone, speaks directly to the film's plot engine: Mewtwo's army of duplicated Pokémon. Trailer cells like this one are prized because they predate the final cut's pacing and editing, offering a glimpse of how the story was marketed before audiences ever saw the finished film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds about four frames, two cut-off at the ends, in two pairs of near-identical images.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched, with no visible tears or missing holes.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, with a speckled data pattern in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue base with a neutral to slightly cool dye image; no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the strip.
Picture
Positive image; frames appear to run consecutively as one shot, with doubled frames, and the animated style fits the film on record.
Era check
The optical track plus data blocks between perforations suggests a late-1990s release or trailer print, consistent with a 1999 release.
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
