Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros., bringing Nintendo's phenomenon to American theaters at the height of Pokémania. Built around the Mewtwo origin story, the film was preceded by teaser and theatrical trailers that circulated widely on 35mm before the feature's release, stoking anticipation among a fanbase that had already consumed the games, cards, and television series. These trailer prints are scarce survivors of a marketing campaign built to introduce a generation of young viewers to the franchise's first cinematic outing, making any surviving frame a tangible piece of that promotional rollout.
This cell centers on Venusaur, one of the cloned Pokémon created by Mewtwo in the film's premise, a detail that gives this particular Venusaur added significance among collectors who seek out clone-specific appearances rather than the standard species. Rayquaza's presence alongside Venusaur ties the cell to the broader promotional material circulating at the time, a trailer fragment meant to entice audiences with glimpses of the roster assembled for the film. As a trailer cell rather than a theatrical print frame, it represents the advertising apparatus itself, a single excerpt from footage built specifically to sell anticipation before the movie opened.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame on both edges point to 35mm; the strip holds about three full frames plus a partial frame at the left edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two wavy white bands runs between the picture and the lower perforations, and grey speckled Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a cyan-blue cast along both edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no fading or red shift seen.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the frames run consecutively as one shot of green animated creatures with water spray, in a cel-animation style that fits the film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks combined with an analog optical track fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, which suits 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
