Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of the franchise's explosive American debut. It brought Mewtwo, the series' first major original creation, to the big screen as a tragic antagonist wrestling with questions of identity and purpose. The film became a cultural touchstone for a generation introduced to Pokémon through Saturday morning television, and its theatrical trailer served as an early, tantalizing promise of that story before audiences ever sat in the theater.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel, built around Mewtwo's stadium, the arena where the film's central conflict plays out. A Pokémon stand-off suggests confrontation and tension, the kind of setup trailers rely on to signal stakes without giving away resolution. Mewtwo remains one of the most sought-after figures in Pokémon collecting, prized for its origin as a laboratory creation grappling with existence itself. A trailer cell like this one captures the marketing machinery of 1999, the moment audiences first glimpsed this standoff before the feature's full release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout: four-perforation frame pitch visible on both edges, with three frames across the strip, the right-hand frame cut off at the edge.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, with clean rounded-rectangle punching and no torn or damaged holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run side by side between the picture and the lower perforations; the gaps between the lower perforations hold a speckled data pattern, consistent with Dolby Digital blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Neutral to slightly cool clear base, with the dye image looking warm and saturated in yellows and oranges and no obvious fade at this size.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean and unmarked.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames repeat the same shot with almost no change between them, and the animated look is consistent with an animated film such as the one on record.
Era check
Dual optical tracks plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations fit a late-1990s 35mm release print or trailer, which suits a 1999 title.
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 000069807
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
