Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine at the peak of Pokémania, when the franchise was conquering American playgrounds, television slots, and trading card aisles simultaneously. The teaser trailer that preceded it became its own cultural artifact, priming audiences for the franchise's leap to the big screen with glimpses of its original, lab-born antagonist. The film's success cemented Pokémon as more than a passing fad, and the promotional material circulating beforehand carries its own collecting lineage separate from the feature itself.
This cell draws from that trailer and centers on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose conflict with Charizard anchors much of the film's drama and whose design made it an instant icon among collectors. A scene described as Mewtwo attacking speaks directly to that tension, the psychic Pokémon asserting dominance in the confrontations that define the movie's stakes. Trailer cells like this one hold particular appeal because they capture the anticipation machinery itself, the frames built to sell a story rather than simply tell one, preserving a moment of promise before the film's wider release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout, with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three frames, the last cropped at the right edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tears or damage.
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
Pale blue-tinted base along both edges with a neutral clear base between frames; the dye image looks saturated and shows no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the picture or track areas.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated style is plausible for the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent: an optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching a 1999 trailer for Pokémon: The First Movie.
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 000069841
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
