Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American theaters. Adapted from the Japanese original, the film introduced Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon, to a mainstream audience already saturated with trading cards, games, and the television series. The promotional trailer preceding its release served as a crucial marketing tool, building anticipation months ahead of the premiere and shaping how the franchise would present its darker, more ambitious narrative to newcomers and devoted fans alike.
This cell captures Mewtwo in a moment of command, directing cloned Pokémon including Gyarados, Scyther, and Nidoqueen. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters among collectors, prized for its central role in the film's conspiracy-driven plot and its standing as a symbol of the series' more mature ambitions. A trailer cell like this one exists outside the finished feature, representing the raw promotional material used to entice audiences, making it a distinct artifact from the theatrical release itself and a window into early franchise marketing.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame on both edges, with four frames in the strip, the first and last partly cropped by the panel edge.
Perforations
Four per frame along both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes and no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of two bands runs between the picture and the lower perforations; Dolby Digital blocks sit between the lower perforations, and no DTS line or SDDS tracks are seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base with a neutral dye image; the colours show no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames show the same composition and run consecutively as one shot, consistent with a Pokémon animated trailer matching the film on record.
Era check
The optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a colour positive print fits a late-1990s theatrical release print, as expected for a 1999 trailer.
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
