Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the marketing push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, the Warner Bros. theatrical release that brought Nintendo's sprawling franchise to American screens at the height of Pokémania. The teaser reels circulating that year were themselves cultural artifacts, built to stoke anticipation among a generation discovering Mewtwo's origin story for the first time. These promotional strips are scarce today, as most were discarded once the feature opened, making surviving trailer material a notable complement to collections built around the film proper.
This cell draws its name from a moment labeled Mewtwo Commands The Clones, placing the genetically engineered Pokémon at the center of its assembled creations: Gyarados, Scyther, Nidoqueen, and Ninetales. Mewtwo remains the franchise's most collected figure, prized for its role as antagonist and tragic centerpiece of the original film's narrative. A trailer cell like this one serves as advance promise rather than finished scene, a glimpse offered to audiences before the story's full weight was known, and its cast of clones underscores the scale of command the character was built to embody.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of the Pokémon: The Movie (1999) trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames, with a partial frame cut off at the right end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or visibly damaged perforations.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, with Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Neutral clear base with a faint blue-cyan tint along the edges; the dye image looks saturated, with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; only the single-frame camera reflections, which are ignored.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated characters are consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus a variable-area optical track on a positive print fit a late-1990s theatrical release print, consistent with 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 000069902
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
