Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, released by Warner Bros. in partnership with Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, riding the crest of a cultural phenomenon that had swept through television, trading cards, and handheld games. Its trailer served as a critical marketing tool, introducing American audiences to Mewtwo and the franchise's first theatrical adventure, cementing the brand's crossover from small screen to cinema and helping define a generation's entry point into the Pokémon universe during its peak years of popularity.
This cell preserves the logo title card from that trailer, the frame where the film's name first resolves before audiences, a foundational piece of promotional film history. Title cards like this one function as a strip's signature moment, the instant a product is announced and branded, making this a natural focal point for collectors assembling trailer reels or studio marketing pieces. Within 35mm trailer ephemera, logo cards occupy a particular niche, valued for marking the exact packaging a studio chose to sell a film at its theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds about three and a half frames, curved into a loop on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes of consistent shape and no visible tears.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two wavy white-on-dark lines runs beside the picture; Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode and SDDS tracks are not visible in this capture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue tint at the edges; the dye image shows saturated blues and yellows with no red shift or fading.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the frames.
Picture
Positive image; the frames repeat one title card of the Pokémon: The First Movie logo on a blue burst, matching the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: a 35mm strip with an optical analogue track and a saturated dye image fits a theatrical trailer of that period.
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
