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OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE FILM AUTHENTICATION
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell 000069006 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEPokémon: The First Movie Trailer
SCENEPokémon/Blastoise Clone
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE ID000069006

FILM NOTES

Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the United States in November 1999, released by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and Pokémon USA brought the Japanese theatrical feature to American audiences at the height of Pokémania. Built around the original 150 creatures and the then-new mythology of Mewtwo, the film was accompanied by an extensive trailer campaign designed to funnel the television audience into theaters. Those preview reels, cut from 35mm trailer stock, are now scarce artifacts of that marketing push, preserved in far smaller numbers than the feature prints themselves.

This cell comes from that trailer material, built around Blastoise, one of the three original starter evolutions and a perennial favorite among collectors for its lineage back to the first generation games and cards. It appears alongside Hitmonlee, Venusaur, Rhyhorn, Sandslash, and Scyther, a roster suggesting a montage moment meant to showcase the breadth of the Pokémon roster to a theater audience. As a trailer frame rather than a feature cell, it represents the promotional apparatus built to introduce the franchise's cinematic ambitions to mainstream moviegoers.

Authentication Findings 8 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 four frames, two pairs of near-identical frames, with no cross-frame split.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-corner rectangular holes, cleanly punched with no tears or stretched holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run between the picture and the lower perforations, plus a speckled Dolby Digital data block in each gap between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Blue Kodak edge print reading, as seen backwards: "2383 207 084 0 10 K·ODAK 17 1999" with a small square mark at one end.
Base & colour
Clear base with a neutral to faintly cool tint; the dye image looks saturated, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the photo shows only a clean strip with a few reflections from the panel.
Picture
Positive colour image; the four frames form two repeated pairs, as a held shot, and the animated artwork is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent: Kodak 2383 print stock, 1999 edge date, two optical tracks and Dolby Digital blocks fit a 1999 35mm release print of this 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 Capture As received
The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size