Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in late 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to translate the era's biggest animated phenomenon into a theatrical event. Backed by 4Kids Entertainment's dub and a marketing push that blanketed television and print, the trailer preceding it served as many American audiences' first glimpse of the feature's darker, more mythic storyline, departing from the show's lighter television tone. The campaign's success helped cement Pokémon as a lasting cross-media franchise rather than a passing craze, and the trailer itself became a cultural touchstone for a generation of young viewers.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer built entirely around Mew, the rare and legendary Pokémon whose mystery and origin story anchor the film's plot. As the genetic ancestor to the engineered Mewtwo, Mew carries outsized significance for collectors, representing the franchise's blend of folklore and science fiction. A trailer cell such as this captures a single frame used to entice audiences before the film's release, a promotional fragment rather than a narrative one. Its value lies in that liminal purpose, a glimpse offered to build anticipation around a character already beloved for its scarcity within the games themselves.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm positive release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame on both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames, with a partial frame cut off at the right end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle punches that look clean and uniform; the outer edges carry a blue-tinted border band.
Soundtrack
Two parallel variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture on the lower side, with the Dolby Digital data blocks absent from the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear, neutral base with a light blue tint at the outer edges; the dye image shows saturated purples and violets with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; a few tiny specks on the frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated character matches the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print or trailer: a standard 35mm positive with a twin-track optical analogue soundtrack, typical of late-1990s 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 000069796
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
