Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the franchise's television and trading card momentum onto the big screen, backed by a promotional push rarely seen for an animated import. The original Japanese feature had already proven the appetite for Mewtwo's origin story, and the American release, padded with the Pikachu's Vacation short, became a cultural touchstone for a generation introduced to Pokémon through Saturday morning television. Trailer material from this period is scarce and prized, since it circulated only briefly in theaters before being superseded by the feature itself.
This cell draws from that promotional reel, with Mewtwo positioned as the commanding presence over Scyther, Gyarados, and Nidoqueen, three of its genetically cloned forces from the film's climactic battle. Mewtwo remains the movie's most sought-after figure, the engineered Pokémon whose existential arc anchored the entire narrative. A trailer cell like this one captures the marketing moment meant to tease conflict and scale to audiences before the story proper unfolded, making it a record of anticipation rather than resolution.
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, and the strip holds three complete frames side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with cleanly punched rounded-rectangle holes and no tears or distortion visible.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with a dashed line above them and Dolby Digital-style data blocks sitting in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base along the edges with a neutral, saturated dye image; no red shift or fading seen.
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, in a cel-animated style consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Optical tracks plus Dolby Digital data blocks on a colour positive stock fit a late-1990s 35mm release print, matching 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 000069926
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
