Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American theaters, toy aisles, and television schedules. Adapted from the Japanese original, it marked the franchise's leap to the big screen in the United States, introducing a generation of young viewers to Mewtwo's origin story and the mythic, elusive Mew. The film's box office success cemented Pokémon as a lasting cultural force well beyond its video game roots, and the marketing campaign built around it, including trailer material, became part of that same introductory wave.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel, pairing Mew with Mewtwo, the two Pokémon whose connected origin anchors the film's central conflict. Mew, rare and legendary even within the series' own mythology, draws particular interest from collectors who prize its scarcity both as a creature and as a subject across Pokémon ephemera. A trailer cell like this one functioned as advance promise rather than narrative payoff, a single frame pulled from footage meant to stir anticipation before release, now standing as a physical artifact of that early campaign.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four-perforation-per-frame layout on both edges, consistent with 35mm; the strip holds three full frames plus a sliver of a fourth at the right edge.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes; one top-edge perforation shows a slightly ragged edge.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two tracks runs beside the picture, and a dashed line above it; the gaps between the lower perforations hold speckled blocks consistent with Dolby Digital data.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly pale base with a light blue-green tint along both outer edges; the dye image shows saturated purples with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; a few faint dust specks sit on the panel and film.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot of a purple-toned character, matching the animated Pokémon content of the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print or trailer, since an optical track combined with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fits 1999 theatrical prints.
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 000069791
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
