Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 from Warner Bros. and Nintendo at the height of Pokémon's first wave of American popularity, when the franchise was expanding from handheld games and television into a theatrical event. Its trailer campaign was built to pull in both longtime fans and newcomers, teasing the film's darker, more ambitious tone compared to the series. These preview reels circulated widely in theaters before the movie's release, making surviving trailer cells a record of how the studio chose to introduce Mewtwo and the film's central conflict to a mass audience ahead of opening weekend.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer tied to Mewtwo's Stadium, the site of the film's climactic gathering of Pokémon. Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon at the heart of the story, remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters for collectors, given its central role in the film's conflict. The stand-off described situates this piece within the trailer's effort to signal tension and stakes early, a glimpse meant to draw audiences toward the full feature. As a trailer cell rather than a final release print, it reflects the promotional materials prepared specifically to market the film's theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes 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 to slightly cool base with pale blue edge bands; the dye image looks neutral to warm with no obvious fading.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the frames look clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated cartoon look is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Consistent: an optical track plus Dolby Digital data blocks is typical of a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching 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 000069801
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
