Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released domestically by Warner Bros. after Toho's original Japanese run the prior year. The property was at its commercial peak, riding the Game Boy and trading card phenomenon into theaters for the first time. Trailers from this campaign circulated heavily on VHS tapes and in theatrical pre-show reels, introducing American audiences to Mewtwo as a central antagonist. These promotional strips are scarce survivors compared to the feature prints, since trailer reels were frequently discarded or spliced apart after their theatrical run ended.
This cell, Mewtwo Commands The Clones!, places the genetically engineered Pokémon in his role as leader, overseeing the cloned creatures built to oppose the original species in the film's climax. Gyarados, Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Ninetales appear here as members of that cloned assembly, each a recognizable species whose presence signals the scale of Mewtwo's forces. As a trailer cell, this frame served to build anticipation ahead of release, offering audiences an early glimpse of the conflict driving the feature. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters among collectors of this era's promotional material.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, with three frames visible on the strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tears or damage.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, and the bottom-edge area between the perforations holds speckled Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue-cyan tint along the edges; the dye image looks neutral, with deep blues and saturated greens and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the only mark is a round reflection ring on one frame.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames show the same shot with near-identical content, and the animated characters are consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: the combined optical and Dolby Digital soundtrack matches 35mm theatrical trailers of that period.
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 000069900
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
