Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémon's explosive arrival in American popular culture. As the franchise's debut theatrical feature, it marked a pivotal moment: a television phenomenon proving it could command a full cinematic release and a box office audience well beyond its core fanbase. The trailer campaign that preceded it was instrumental in building anticipation, teasing the film's central conflict between Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon of singular power, and the broader Pokémon world, including Pikachu and company.
This cell comes from that promotional reel, built around Mewtwo's Stadium and a Pokémon stand-off, a trailer moment designed to showcase scale and tension ahead of the feature's release. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters, prized by collectors for its central role as the film's antagonist and its status as an early symbol of Pokémon's darker, more ambitious storytelling. A stand-off implies confrontation and stakes, fitting for a trailer's job: compressing drama into a single arresting composition meant to draw audiences into theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged holes seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, with a dashed cyan-edged line above it; no Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations, no DTS timecode, no SDDS.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue edge tint; the dye image looks warm and yellow-leaning, with no obvious fading.
Projection history
A few tiny specks and dust marks on the picture area; no scratches, cue marks or splices seen.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated characters on a arena floor fit a Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: a 35mm positive with an analogue optical track and a Dolby Digital-style pattern between the perforations, on typical late-1990s stock.
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 000069804
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
