Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros., riding the crest of a cultural wave that had already swept American television, trading cards, and toy aisles. Adapted from the Japanese feature Mewtwo Strikes Back, it introduced a wider theatrical audience to the franchise's roster of creatures and trainers, becoming a box office success that cemented Pokémon's place in mainstream entertainment. The promotional trailer that preceded the film played a key role in building anticipation, giving audiences a glimpse of the spectacle to come before the movie itself ever hit theaters.
This cell, drawn from that trailer, centers on Charizard, one of the franchise's most recognizable and sought-after creatures among collectors, prized for its dragon-like design and fierce reputation in battle. The phrase "Charizard Attacks!" points to a moment of action built around this creature's combative nature, a glimpse meant to stir excitement ahead of release. As a trailer fragment, it belongs to the promotional ephemera of the film rather than its finished narrative, a piece of the marketing machine that introduced Charizard's power to waiting fans.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four complete frames plus a partial frame at the left end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shapes, cleanly punched with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, with stippled data blocks in the gaps between the lower perforations that look like Dolby Digital.
Edge print
Blue edge print reads, as seen, "2383 207 084 0 10 KODAK 17 1999", with a small square mark at the right end.
Base & colour
The base is a light cyan-blue tint at the edges with a neutral clear carrier; the dye image looks saturated and unfaded.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the frames look clean and evenly lit on the panel.
Picture
Positive image, four frames running consecutively as one continuous shot of animated artwork; the animated style fits the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock, a 1999 date code, and an optical track with Dolby Digital blocks are all consistent with a late-1990s release print of the film on record.
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
