Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the franchise's television and trading-card momentum into theaters, riding a wave of Pokémania that had gripped younger audiences worldwide. The film's marketing push was relentless, with trailers playing ahead of major releases to build anticipation for a story centered on Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon wrestling with questions of identity and purpose. The movie's box office success proved that the brand could extend beyond games and episodes into a theatrical event, cementing 1999 as a high point for the property in American pop culture.
This 35mm trailer cell preserves a piece of that early promotional campaign, built around Mewtwo alone. As the central figure of the film's narrative, Mewtwo draws particular interest from collectors who value the character's standing as one of the series' most complex and enduring creations. A trailer cell like this one comes from the reel assembled to entice audiences before the feature itself, a promotional artifact distinct from the finished film print. Owning a piece tied specifically to Mewtwo connects a collector to the character's introduction to American theaters at the height of the franchise's first cultural wave.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three full frames across the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no tears visible.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run between the picture and the lower perforations, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the bottom-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale blue-tinted edge margins; the dye image shows saturated blues with no visible fading or colour shift at this size.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated character design is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: analog optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks suit a 1999 theatrical trailer on 35mm.
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 000069818
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
