Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in late 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of the franchise's peak American popularity. The theatrical trailer predates the feature's release, built to stoke anticipation among audiences already gripped by the television series and trading card craze. These promotional reels were distributed to theaters ahead of the film and circulated in limited quantities, making surviving 35mm trailer cells scarce artifacts of a cultural moment when Pokémon dominated playgrounds and box offices alike.
This cell preserves a trailer moment built around the cloning premise central to the film's plot, pairing Charizard and Blastoise as genetically duplicated specimens. Both are among the most recognizable and sought-after Pokémon, anchoring the franchise's original roster and carrying enduring demand among collectors of cards, cels, and film ephemera alike. A trailer cell like this one captures not the finished narrative but the marketing apparatus built to sell it, a fragment of anticipation manufactured for theaters rather than a scene from the movie itself. Its appeal lies in that liminal status, promotional rather than narrative, advance rather than final.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The First Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames of picture.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no tears or distortion visible.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations and a dashed line near the track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges with neutral to slightly cool clear areas; the dye image looks saturated and not faded.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the strip looks clean.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames are near-identical consecutive frames of one shot, in a hand-painted animation style that fits the film on record.
Era check
The twin optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching the 1999 date 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 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 000069760
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
