Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's Pokémon Company, riding the crest of a cultural phenomenon that had swept American playgrounds and television sets within a single year. The film brought the franchise's roster to the big screen for the first time, and its trailer campaign primed audiences for a darker, more mythic tone than the Saturday morning cartoon had offered, centering on Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon whose existential struggle gave the movie unexpected weight.
This cell preserves a moment from that early promotional reel, built around Mewtwo presiding over a stand-off among Pokémon, a scene that teased the film's central conflict between natural creation and artificial power. Trailer cells like this one hold particular appeal for collectors since they capture a film's first public face, the images chosen to set expectation before release. Mewtwo's presence alone makes this piece notable, as the character remains one of the franchise's most enduring and sought-after figures among collectors of Pokémon film history.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm positive release trailer print of Pokémon: The First Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of two tracks runs between the picture and the lower perforations; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode line or SDDS tracks are visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a faint blue-cyan tint at the edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond a few small specks on the picture area and the base; no scratches, splices or cue marks visible.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated Pokémon arena artwork fits the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: a variable-area optical track and a colour positive on a clear base suit a 1999 theatrical 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 000069881
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
