Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in the fall of 1999 from Warner Bros., riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American pop culture. Adapted from the Japanese feature Mewtwo Strikes Back, the film introduced U.S. audiences to a darker, more mythic corner of the franchise, built around themes of cloning and identity rather than simple monster battling. Its theatrical trailer played constantly on broadcast television and before other releases that summer, serving as many kids' first glimpse of the movie's larger ambitions beyond the television series.
This cell preserves a strip from that trailer, a format built to tease rather than narrate, offering a single charged glimpse meant to pull audiences toward the theater. Mew, the rare and elusive original from which Mewtwo was cloned, anchors the moment, a character prized by collectors for its scarcity in both game and screen appearances. The phrase "Mew Attacks" marks this as a moment of action and assertion, a rare instance of the gentle, legendary Pokémon taking center stage in open conflict, a scene that promised fans something beyond the usual series fare.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds four frames, with the first and last partly cut off by the strip ends.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or visibly damaged perforations in this capture.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with a speckled Dolby Digital data block visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear blue-tinted base at both edges; the dye image reads strongly magenta-purple against dark surrounds, with no visible fading.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the frames look clean, apart from a faint vertical line in the second frame.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one animated shot, and the animated look is plausible for the Pokémon film on record, but no title or text confirms it.
Era check
The Dolby Digital data blocks plus optical tracks (a dual-format layout) are consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release trailer print of the film on record.
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
