Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the marketing push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released in the United States by Warner Bros. with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company behind the franchise machine. The phenomenon was at its commercial peak that year, with the trading card game, the television series, and merchandising converging into a cultural moment few properties have matched. Theatrical trailers from this period circulated widely on 35mm before home video and digital distribution took over, making surviving film elements from the promotional campaign scarce artifacts of that specific window in entertainment history.
This cell centers on Charizard, the franchise's most recognizable and sought-after Pokémon, alongside Pikachu and Ash Ketchum, the core trio most associated with the series' early identity. A close-up suggests the trailer's editors chose to isolate Charizard as a singular draw, underscoring the character's drawing power even within promotional material built to sell the larger film. For collectors, a trailer cell occupies a different category than a release print: it preserves the moment the franchise was being introduced and sold to audiences, a piece of the marketing history rather than the narrative itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with clean rounded-rectangle punching and no visible tears or damage.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical soundtrack sits beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base along both edges, with strong, saturated orange and white dye colours and no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; the frames and soundtrack look clean, with no scratches, splices or cue marks.
Picture
Positive image, three consecutive frames of one animated shot with a smooth progression; the animation style is plausible for the film on record, though no title or text confirms it.
Era check
The optical track with Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, so it is consistent with the 1999 date on record.
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 000069909
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
