Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released theatrically by Warner Bros. in the United States under license from Nintendo and Pikachu Project 1998. The franchise had exploded across toys, trading cards, and television that year, and theatrical trailers like this one served as a bridge between the television series and the big screen debut, building anticipation for audiences who had only known the characters through weekly episodes. These trailer reels are collected today as artifacts of that transitional moment, when Pokémon mania was at its commercial peak.
This cell preserves a Team Rocket moment, spotlighting Jessie, Meowth, and James, the recurring antagonist trio from the television series whose presence in a movie trailer signals their expanding role within the larger Pokémon mythos. Collectors seek out cells featuring this group for their comic notoriety and consistent popularity among fans of the original series. As a trailer segment, this frame functioned as promotional material meant to tease character appearances ahead of the film's release, making it a piece of Pokémon's early marketing history rather than a scene from the finished feature 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; the strip holds three frames, each with a full picture area between the perforation rows.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-corner rectangular holes, cleanly punched with no tears or distortion visible.
Soundtrack
One variable-area optical track with two parallel waveform lines beside the picture, plus a speckled pattern in the gaps between the lower perforations that is not clearly legible as Dolby data blocks at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue-cyan tint at the edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no fading or colour shift seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the three frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated characters match the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical analogue track with a Dolby-style speckled data area, colour positive stock, and clear base.
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 000069940
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
