Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to translate a television and gaming phenomenon into a theatrical event, pairing the feature with the short "Pikachu's Vacation" to soften its darker, more philosophical core. The trailer campaign that preceded it was essential to that effort, tasked with introducing American audiences to Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon unlike the pocket-sized companions of the series, and to position the film as something weightier than its merchandising origins suggested. The movie went on to become a box office success and a defining artifact of the franchise's first wave of popularity.
This cell preserves a promotional moment built around Mewtwo and its cloned Pokémon, Gyarados, Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Blastoise, figures assembled to signal the film's central conflict between original creatures and their engineered duplicates. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters among collectors, prized as the series' first and most complex antagonist. A trailer cell such as this one served to tease that confrontation before audiences ever saw the finished film, making it a document of anticipation itself, a fragment of the marketing moment rather than the story's resolution.
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; the strip holds about two and a half frames, with only one frame complete.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched with no tears or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and a speckled Dolby Digital data pattern fills the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue edge tint and a neutral cast; the dye image looks saturated, with no fading or colour shift seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the strip.
Picture
Positive image; the frames show consecutive animated shots and look consistent with the Pokémon: The First Movie trailer on record.
Era check
Dual optical tracks plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching 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
