Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the fall of 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the first great wave of Pokémania to hit American theaters. Adapted from the Japanese feature Mewtwo Strikes Back, it brought the franchise's cloned psychic antagonist to a generation of young viewers who knew the pocket monsters chiefly from television and trading cards. The film's marketing push, including this theatrical trailer, played a large role in cementing Pokémon as a cinematic property rather than a passing fad, introducing mainstream audiences to the stakes between Mewtwo and the series' familiar cast.
This cell preserves a transitional moment from that trailer, one that gathers Ash Ketchum alongside Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur in proximity to Mewtwo, the film's central creation. Mewtwo remains one of the most sought-after figures in Pokémon collecting, as the character who gave the franchise its first real villain with philosophical weight. Trailer cells like this one hold a particular appeal for collectors because they capture the promotional assembly of a story, the moment meant to pull new viewers toward the theater rather than a scene from the finished narrative proper.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The First Movie (1999) trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched.
Soundtrack
A pair of white variable-area optical tracks runs beside the picture, and grey-speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The clear base has a light blue tint along both edges, and the dye image looks saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one shot, and the Pikachu and Squirtle characters fit Pokémon: The First Movie.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: it carries both an analogue optical track and Dolby Digital blocks, the standard late-1990s 35mm combination.
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
