Warner Bros. released Pokémon: The First Movie in late 1999, riding the franchise's explosive arrival in American pop culture following the Game Boy titles and the television series. The film brought Pokémon to the big screen for the first time domestically, pairing the Mewtwo Strikes Back narrative with the short Pikachu's Vacation. Its trailer campaign was a cultural event in its own right, running heavily during Saturday morning cartoons and in theaters, introducing a generation of young audiences to the idea of Pokémon as cinematic spectacle rather than just a handheld game or weekly episode.
This cell preserves a trailer moment assembling Ash Ketchum alongside his core roster: Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Gyarados. Together they represent the breadth of Ash's journey as trainer, a gathering of allies meant to signal scale and stakes to audiences ahead of the film's release. Trailer cells like this one carry particular appeal for collectors, capturing the promotional machinery that built anticipation rather than a scene from the finished feature itself, a distinct category within Pokémon memorabilia and early franchise ephemera.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout: four perforations per frame along both edges, with three full frames visible on the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched, no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue-cyan edge tint; the dye image shows full saturated colour with no fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames show one continuous shot with near-identical content, and the animated style fits the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print, since analogue optical tracks paired with Dolby Digital blocks on 35mm were standard for 1999 theatrical trailers.
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 000069779
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
