Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's then-unstoppable Pokémon machine, riding the crest of a cultural wave that had swept American playgrounds and Saturday mornings alike. The promotional trailer that preceded it played a crucial role in building anticipation, teasing the film's darker, clone-centric plot to audiences raised on the television series. For many collectors, trailer material from this release marks the franchise's transition from TV phenomenon to full theatrical event.
This cell comes from that trailer's footage, framed around Ash Ketchum alongside Charizard and Blastoise, two of the franchise's most recognizable and sought-after creatures. The cell's billing as a transition piece suggests it belonged to a sequence moving the trailer from one beat to the next, a connective moment rather than a standalone reveal. Trailer cells like this hold particular appeal because they predate the film itself, capturing promotional artwork built specifically to sell anticipation rather than narrative.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames, each one a full frame between perforation sets.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shaped and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations in this capture.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode or SDDS tracks visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to slightly pale-blue base at the outer edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond faint dust specks on the panel; no splices, cue marks or scratches are evident across the three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot with slight motion between them, and nothing in the picture contradicts the film on record.
Era check
Optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, consistent with 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 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 000069765
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
