Crown Grading
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FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 through Warner Bros., following the franchise's explosive television debut and merchandising surge earlier that year. The trailer itself circulated ahead of release, part of the marketing push that introduced mainstream audiences to Pokémon beyond the Saturday morning cartoon. This was a cultural moment for 4Kids Entertainment and Nintendo alike, cementing Pokémon as a theatrical property and not just a television phenomenon. Promotional 35mm trailer cells from this release are scarce artifacts of that transition, predating home video and existing only in the handful of reels struck for theater distribution.
Mew stands as one of the franchise's most mythologized creatures, central to the film's plot as the genetic origin point for the villain Mewtwo. A cell marked Mew Dodging An Attack places the creature in a moment of evasive action, consistent with the film's climactic battle sequences where Mew's elusive, playful nature is thematically important. Trailer cells like this one served to tease spectacle and character without revealing plot, offering audiences a fragment of motion and stakes. For collectors, this piece represents an early physical trace of Mew's introduction to Western audiences through theatrical promotion.
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
- Gauge
- 35mm layout: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds about three full frames plus slivers of two more at the ends.
- Perforations
- Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes; the soundtrack-side holes sit between Dolby data blocks.
- Soundtrack
- A two-track variable-area optical track runs inside the lower perforations, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between those perforations.
- Edge print
- Not visible in this capture
- Base & colour
- The clear base reads as a light blue-cyan tint at the edges, and the dye image looks neutral to cool with no visible red shift or fading.
- Projection history
- No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size.
- Picture
- Positive image; the frames run consecutively as one shot of a pale creature curled in a purple, smoky setting, matching the film on record.
- Era check
- A variable-area optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a 35mm positive is consistent with a 1999 release print, since Dolby Digital was in use on prints by then.
