Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in late 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the franchise's television and card-game momentum into theaters, pairing the animated feature with the Pikachu short "Pikachu's Vacation." It became a genuine box office event, introducing American audiences to Mewtwo's origin story and cementing Pokémon as a cross-media phenomenon rather than a passing fad. The promotional trailer that preceded it played a key role in that rollout, teasing the film's darker, more ambitious tone to a generation raised on the games and cartoon.
This cell draws from that trailer and gathers Mewtwo alongside its cloned Pokémon, Gyarados, Scyther, and Nidoqueen, assembled as part of the character's engineered army. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after figures, prized for its central role in the film's conflict between natural and artificial life. A trailer cell like this one captures Pokémon mid-launch, a promotional artifact meant to announce scale and stakes before the full story ever reached audiences.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames, each showing a narrow picture area with dark bands between.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes and no tears or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run along the lower edge, with speckled Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue edge tint; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the surface looks clean, with only a phone-reflection ring on one frame, which is ignored.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames repeat the same cropped composition as one consecutive shot, and the animated Pokémon artwork fits the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks suit a 1999 35mm trailer, and the positive colour stock fits theatrical projection.
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
