Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros., Nintendo, and 4Kids Entertainment, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept American theaters. Its promotional trailer was a crucial piece of the campaign, introducing moviegoers to Mewtwo's origin story ahead of the full feature. For a franchise still establishing its theatrical footing, these early trailer reels carried real weight, building anticipation for a crossover event that would bring the pocket monster phenomenon from television screens to multiplexes nationwide.
This 35mm cell preserves a close-up of a Venusaur clone, one of the genetically engineered Pokémon created at Mewtwo's command during the film's opening sequence. Venusaur itself remains one of the original three starter evolutions, a perennial favorite among collectors for its design pedigree alone, and its appearance here as a clone ties directly into the film's central theme of artificial creation and identity. With Mewtwo and Pidgeot also present in these frames, the cell captures a moment from the trailer's showcase of the cloned Pokémon army, the striking visual hook used to draw audiences into the larger narrative of nature versus engineered imitation.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, with the picture running sideways on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched with no visible tearing or distortion.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the lower edge as two bilateral white waveform bands; Dolby Digital data blocks are not visible in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly blue-tinted base at the edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the frames look clean on the base side.
Picture
Positive colour image, three consecutive near-identical frames of one shot; the animation style is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print: dye-image positive stock with an analogue optical track, and no digital or timecode tracks visible in this capture.
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 000069846
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
