Warner Bros. released Pokémon: The First Movie in American theaters in November 1999, bringing Nintendo's record-breaking franchise to the big screen at the height of Pokémon's takeover of American youth culture. The film adapted Mewtwo Strikes Back, a story built around a genetically engineered Pokémon's struggle with identity and purpose. Its marketing campaign, including the trailer this cell derives from, was essential to the franchise's crossover from handheld game and television series into a theatrical event, cementing Pokémon as a dominant force in late-nineties pop culture and introducing millions of young viewers to the series' first major antagonist.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer centered on Mewtwo, the cloned Pokémon whose power and inner conflict drive the film's plot. Known as one of the franchise's most striking original creations, Mewtwo remains a favorite among collectors for its design and its central role in the series' first cinematic outing. The Pokemon Stand-Off in Mewtwo's Arena points to a moment of confrontation, consistent with the character's defining role as challenger and adversary. As a trailer cell, it represents the promotional material used to build anticipation ahead of release, a piece of the film's theatrical rollout rather than the finished feature itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track (two tracks, shown as two wavy white bands) runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted clear base at both edges, with a neutral, well-saturated dye image and no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible across the three frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames repeat the same shot consecutively, and the animated Pokémon artwork is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: a dual-optical track combined with Dolby Digital data blocks on a colour positive 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 000069877
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
