Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American schoolyards and Saturday morning television. Adapted from the Japanese original with new footage shaping its Western release, the film became a cultural event, drawing families and collectors of trading cards and merchandise into theaters alike. Its trailer campaign was essential to that rollout, stoking anticipation months ahead and cementing the film's place as the franchise's first major cinematic statement.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel, centered on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose creation and inner conflict anchor the film's narrative. As the story's central figure, Mewtwo draws particular interest from collectors, representing the darker, more philosophical register the franchise introduced to a young audience. A trailer cell like this one functioned as advance marketing, a single frame cut from footage built to tease character and story before the film's debut, making it a tangible artifact of that early promotional push rather than the finished feature itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
Perforation layout reads as 35mm, with four perforations spanning each frame on both edges; the strip holds three full frames plus partial frames at each end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle shape, evenly spaced and cleanly punched; the apparent size change across the strip is camera perspective and curl.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue tint on the clear base at both edges; the dye image shows saturated purples and blues with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the frames repeat one near-identical abstract purple and blue composition as consecutive frames of one shot; nothing here contradicts the film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus a two-track optical (SR-style) analogue track suit a late-1990s 35mm release print or trailer, consistent with a 1999 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
