Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in theaters in November 1999, brought to American audiences by Warner Bros. and Nintendo at the height of Pokémon's initial cultural explosion. Adapted from the Japanese film Mewtwo Strikes Back, it introduced a generation of young viewers to their first Pokémon theatrical experience, pairing the franchise's television roots with a big screen ambition built around themes of cloning, identity, and conflict. The promotional trailer campaign that preceded the film was itself a major event, airing heavily across children's programming and building anticipation for a character central to the story's emotional weight.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer centered on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose origin and inner struggle drive the film's narrative. As a trailer fragment, it represents the marketing apparatus used to introduce theatrical audiences to Mewtwo ahead of the full feature, making it a touchstone for collectors interested in the character's earliest cinematic presentation. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most enduring and sought-after figures, and a close-up moment speaks to the character's singular presence as the film's defining antagonist and emotional center.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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 side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, and the gaps between the lower-edge perforations hold grainy square Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly blue-tinted base with a neutral, saturated dye image and no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the frames look clean.
Picture
Positive image, three consecutive near-identical frames from one shot; the animated style is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations is consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching a 1999 trailer.
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 000069845
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
