Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, released by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company brought the franchise's animated feature to Western audiences at the height of Pokémon's cultural peak. Its trailer campaign was a cornerstone of that rollout, building anticipation among a generation first encountering the series through handheld games and the television show. The promotional reel circulated widely in theaters that year, making surviving trailer cells a tangible link to the marketing push behind one of the defining animated releases of the decade.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer featuring Meowth, the talking Team Rocket Pokémon whose comedic presence made him a fan favorite distinct from the more battle-focused creatures of the franchise. Alongside him appear Raymond and Donphan, placing this fragment within a specific trailer sequence rather than the film's main narrative. As a trailer cell, this piece comes from promotional material designed to entice ticket buyers, not the finished feature itself, giving it a particular appeal to collectors interested in the marketing history surrounding Pokémon's theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which is the 35mm layout; the strip holds four frames, with the first and last partly cropped by the capture.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower perforations; no DTS or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base reads as a light blue-teal tint at the edges, and the dye image looks saturated and neutral with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one continuous shot in pairs, and the animated look is plausible for the Pokémon trailer on record.
Era check
A variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations is consistent with a 1999 35mm release print or 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
