Warner Bros. handled distribution for Pokémon: The First Movie in the United States, bringing 4Kids Entertainment's adaptation of the Japanese anime phenomenon to American theaters in November 1999. The film arrived at the height of Pokémon's cultural saturation, when the card game, television series, and merchandise had become inescapable in American youth culture. The theatrical trailer that preceded the feature served as many viewers' first extended look at Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon positioned as the film's central antagonist, and helped establish the movie as a legitimate theatrical event rather than a simple television tie-in.
This cell captures a moment from that trailer in which Mewtwo exerts command over Pidgeot and Venusaur, both Pokémon well known from the original roster and valued by collectors for their presence in the franchise's earliest and most recognizable lineup. Mewtwo's role as a commanding figure, controlling other creatures rather than battling alongside them, reflects the character's defining narrative function as a being seeking dominance through psychic power. A trailer cell like this one preserves an early marketing artifact, a frame meant to entice audiences before the film's actual release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, and cleanly punched with no visible tears.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the bottom edge with a dashed line above it, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges; the dye image looks saturated with deep blues, so no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the animated style looks consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Combined optical and Dolby Digital soundtrack plus a clean positive image are consistent with a 1999 35mm theatrical release print.
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 000069849
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
