Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of a cultural wave that had already swept American television and toy aisles. The theatrical trailer served as the first widescreen glimpse many fans had of their pocket monsters rendered for cinema, and it was engineered to pull families into theaters on the strength of spectacle and nostalgia alike. This early marketing push mattered enormously to the franchise's momentum, cementing Pokémon as more than a passing fad and setting the template for how a generation of children's entertainment would be sold on the big screen.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer built around Blastoise, one of the original starter evolutions and a longstanding favorite among Pokémon collectors for its armored, cannon-shelled design. The word Clone ties this frame to the film's central premise, the genetic duplication of familiar creatures by the villain Mewtwo, a plot device that gave the movie its stakes and its merchandising hook. As a trailer cell, this frame exists to tease that premise, offering a condensed, promotional glimpse meant to stir anticipation rather than tell the full story.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four-perforation frame pitch is implied by the layout, with perforations along both edges; the strip holds three picture frames, the outer two cropped at the sides.
Perforations
Perforations run along both edges, four per frame by the layout, evenly spaced with rounded-rectangle punches that look cleanly cut and uniform.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two parallel waveform lines runs beside the picture; Dolby Digital blocks sit between the lower perforations, and a dashed line above the optical tracks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear, slightly cool blue-tinted base at the edges; the dye image looks saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean, with only fine grain texture in the edge margins.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, in a style consistent with the Pokémon animation on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: analogue optical track plus Dolby Digital data between perforations fits 1999 theatrical trailer stock.
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 in partnership with National Film Vault, 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.
CROWN SERIAL 000069753
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
