Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of the franchise's explosive American debut. The promotional trailer that circulated ahead of release gave audiences their first glimpse of Mewtwo, the series' original genetically engineered antagonist, introduced not as a mascot but as a figure of genuine menace. For a property built on childhood collectibility, this early marketing material carries its own historical weight, marking the moment Pokémon announced itself as a theatrical force rather than a television curiosity.
This cell captures Mewtwo in command, flanked by Gyarados, Scyther, and Nidoqueen, the cloned creatures under his control during the film's central conflict. Mewtwo remains one of the franchise's most sought-after characters, prized for his origin as a lab-born outsider rather than a conventional Pokémon. A trailer cell like this one represents the studio's effort to sell scale and menace in a single promotional frame, distinct from a finished film print. For collectors, it preserves a pivotal marketing moment rather than a narrative one.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames plus a sliver of a fourth at the right edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched with no visible tears or stretching.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with the Dolby Digital data blocks sitting in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode or SDDS tracks are visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base along both edges, and the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated look is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Analogue optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, so this is 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 000069907
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
