Warner Bros. released Pokémon: The First Movie in American theaters in November 1999, riding the crest of Pokémania as the franchise expanded from handheld games and television into a theatrical feature. The accompanying trailer was distributed to introduce American audiences to the film ahead of release, built from promotional 35mm prints struck for theater chains nationwide. These trailer reels are now scarce, having been returned, junked, or recycled after their short promotional runs, making surviving footage a window into how the Pokémon phenomenon was marketed at its commercial peak.
This cell gathers Ash Ketchum with Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Scyther, representing the assembled roster that anchored the franchise's early identity. Pikachu remains the character most sought by collectors, with Ash as the recognizable human center of the series. Squirtle and Bulbasaur round out the starter trio's visibility, while Scyther's inclusion points to the broader cast drawn upon for the film's promotional push. As a trailer cell, it belongs to the marketing apparatus built to sell the movie itself, a frame meant to showcase the team to a waiting audience rather than a narrative moment from the finished feature.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print strip of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched; the lower-edge holes alternate with speckled blocks between them.
Soundtrack
A dual variable-area optical track runs along one edge, with speckled Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the perforations on the same side.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale blue-tinted base along both edges; the dye image looks colourful and balanced, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices or cue marks are visible on these three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated character art fits the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Dual optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a blue-edged print is consistent with a 1999 35mm release or trailer print, though the strip carries no date or title card.
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 000069787
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
