Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine, riding the crest of the franchise's first great wave of American popularity. Its trailer campaign was a cultural event in its own right, promising audiences a darker, more cinematic entry than the television series had offered, built around the saga of Mewtwo and its army of engineered duplicates. For many collectors this promotional material marks the high point of Pokémania's theatrical ambitions.
This cell belongs to that trailer, singling out Venusaur among the cloned creatures central to the film's premise. Venusaur, the fully evolved form of Bulbasaur, has long held a place among the franchise's most recognized originals, and its appearance here ties directly to the clone army conceit that drove the movie's marketing. A trailer cell like this one was built for anticipation rather than narrative detail, a single frame meant to tease the scale of Mewtwo's creations to audiences before the film's release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout: four perforations per frame on both edges, with the strip holding about three and a half frames, three of them complete.
Perforations
Four per frame along both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes with clean edges and no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs as two parallel bands beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a slight blue-cyan cast on the margins; the dye image looks neutral to slightly cool, with no obvious fading.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image, frames run consecutively as one animated shot, and the cel-style artwork is plausible for an animated Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Optical track combined with Dolby Digital blocks is consistent with a late-1990s release print or trailer of this film.
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
