Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and 4Kids Entertainment brought the franchise's anime arm to the big screen at the height of Pokémania. It marked the first theatrical outing for the property in the West, built around Mewtwo, a bioengineered Pokémon whose creation and rebellion against humanity gave the film a darker edge than the television series. The trailer campaign that preceded it was part of the marketing push that introduced American audiences to the film's central conflict and its menagerie of cloned Pokémon before the movie itself opened.
This cell comes from that trailer, a promotional reel meant to build anticipation ahead of release rather than tell the story outright. Its subject is Mewtwo's cloning of Venusaur and Pidgeot, two established Pokémon reproduced as part of the film's premise that genetic duplication could rival or surpass the original creatures. Venusaur and Pidgeot are well-known entries from the original 150, giving collectors a tie to familiar characters recast within the film's central science fiction conceit. Trailer cells like this one are sought for capturing the promotional material itself, a layer distinct from the feature print, tied to the movie's theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The First Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four frames, two of them partly cut off at the left and right ends.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform along the strip.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs along the lower edge, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Edge print reads backwards along the top edge: "2383 207 084 0 10 K'ODAK 17 1999", with a small square mark at the end.
Base & colour
Clear base with a cyan-blue edge tint and a neutral to slightly cool look. Dyes in the image look saturated with no obvious fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size. A faint vertical sheen on the right frames looks like panel glare rather than damage.
Picture
Positive colour image. The frames run consecutively as one continuous shot and match an animated trailer, consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock with a 1999 date code, an optical track and Dolby Digital data suit a 1999 theatrical 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 CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
