Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros., Nintendo, and 4Kids Entertainment, riding the first great wave of American Pokémon mania. It was the franchise's theatrical debut, bringing Mewtwo's origin story to audiences already primed by the television series and trading card craze. The film became a cultural marker of that era's collecting fever, and its promotional materials, including trailer reels, circulated widely as advance proof that Pokémon had crossed into blockbuster territory.
This cell comes from the trailer reel, the footage cut together to build anticipation before the feature itself opened. It centers on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon at the heart of the film's plot, shown alongside its cloned forces: Gyarados, Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Ninetales. These clones represent Mewtwo's army in the story, assembled to challenge the natural-born Pokémon later in the film. For collectors, a trailer cell pairing Mewtwo with his clone creations captures the promotional push behind the character who anchored the entire movie.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, with the third cut off at the right edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform in size.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs between picture and lower perforations, and the gaps between the lower perforations hold speckled blocks consistent with Dolby Digital data.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to slightly cool base with a light blue tint at the outer margins; the dye image looks neutral and saturated, with no obvious fading.
Projection history
None seen at this size; the strip looks clean, with no scratches, splices or cue marks visible.
Picture
Positive colour image, three consecutive frames of one shot with almost no change between them, and the animated look is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
The optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, which suits 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 000069875
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
