Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, released by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and the Pokémon Company's anime and trading card phenomenon had already swept through a generation. Built around 4Kids Entertainment's English dub of the Japanese feature, the film paired the Mewtwo Strikes Back narrative with the short Pikachu's Vacation, and its promotional trailers were engineered to reach the widest possible young audience during the height of Pokémon mania. The trailer campaign itself became a cultural touchstone, introducing moviegoers to the franchise's leap from television and cards to the big screen.
This cell gathers an assembly of creatures central to that crossover moment, with Mew, the rare and mythical figure at the heart of the film's plot, placed alongside Pikachu and a wider roster including Gyarados, Rapidash, Ninetales, Hitmonlee, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Nidoqueen, Nidorino, and Vaporeon. A trailer cell like this one functioned as a single-frame excerpt from the advertising reel, meant to compress anticipation into one strip of film. Collectors prize such pieces for uniting so many recognizable species in one surviving fragment of the franchise's theatrical debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; three frames are visible in the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks beside the picture, plus a dashed data line outside them and Dolby Digital blocks between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly cyan-tinted base with a neutral dye image; no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices visible, and the circular marks on the frames are camera reflections.
Picture
Positive image, three consecutive frames of the same shot, matching the animated Pokémon characters expected for the film on record.
Era check
The optical tracks with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fit a 1999 35mm release print, so the format matches the film on record.
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 000069824
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
