Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's Pokémon Company, riding the crest of a cultural wave that had already swept through Game Boy screens, trading cards, and Saturday morning television. The trailer itself was a cultural event, previewing Mewtwo's origin story to an audience of millions eager for their first glimpse of the franchise translated to the big screen. For a generation of young collectors, this was the moment Pokémon proved it could command theatrical real estate alongside Disney and Pixar, cementing its place in film history.
This cell gathers Blastoise, Hitmonlee, Venusaur, Rhyhorn, Sandslash, and Scyther, a roster spanning multiple evolutionary lines and typings, suggesting an ensemble moment meant to showcase the sheer variety of creatures populating this world. A grouping like this in a trailer serves a promotional purpose: it signals scale and spectacle, reassuring audiences that the film delivers on the diversity promised by the games and show. Blastoise in particular draws collector interest as one of the three original starter evolutions, a fan favorite whose presence alongside Clone imagery ties this frame directly to the film's central conceit of duplication and identity.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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, two matching and one different.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched with no tears seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base, with colour dye image looking saturated and balanced, no fading or red shift seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the first two frames are identical and the third is a different shot, so not one continuous shot, and the animated look fits the film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks beside an optical track on a 35mm positive are consistent with a late-1990s release print, matching 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 000069892
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
