Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and Shogakukan brought the Japanese feature Mewtwo Strikes Back to Western audiences. The release marked the franchise's leap from television phenomenon to big-screen event, arriving at the height of Pokémania when trading cards, games, and the animated series dominated playgrounds. Trailers for the film circulated heavily in late 1999, building anticipation among a generation discovering Pokémon for the first time, and these promotional reels have since become their own collecting category, separate from the feature itself.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer reel, centered on Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the franchise's defining duo. Ash, the series' young trainer protagonist, and Pikachu, his signature partner, represent the emotional core of Pokémon storytelling, making any pairing of the two a natural focal point for collectors. A trailer cell like this one captures the promotional machinery of the film's launch, a physical artifact from the reels that introduced audiences to the movie before its release, tying Ash and Pikachu's partnership to the broader cultural rollout of the franchise's cinematic debut.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of Pokémon: The First Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds a single frame with its surrounding perforations.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, rectangular with rounded corners, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track with a dashed cue line above it runs between the picture and the lower perforations; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS or SDDS visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base looks clear to faintly blue-tinted, with the dye image showing balanced, saturated colours and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the single frame.
Picture
Positive colour image of one frame, so consecutive-frame continuity cannot be checked; the animated look is plausible for the film on record.
Era check
The optical track and the photographic print stock are consistent with a 1999 35mm release print, though the strip carries no edge print to confirm it.
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 000069869
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
