Released in 1999 by Warner Bros. in partnership with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon: The First Movie arrived at the height of Pokémania, when the franchise had seized American playgrounds, television slots, and trading card aisles in a single sweep. The promotional trailer that preceded it served as an early signal to audiences that the phenomenon was moving from handheld screens to theaters, introducing the idea of Mewtwo and the cloned Pokémon storyline before the feature itself premiered. As a piece of theatrical history, this trailer material captures the marketing machinery of a cultural peak, when a new medium for Pokémon storytelling was being tested on the big screen.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer tied to Bulbasaur, here appearing as part of the cloning plot central to the film's premise. Bulbasaur has long held a place as one of the original starter Pokémon, a favorite among early collectors for its status as a franchise cornerstone. Labeled as a clone, this frame points to the film's central conceit, in which Mewtwo creates duplicate Pokémon as part of its experiments. A trailer cell like this one offers a physical fragment of that promotional run, a single frame excerpted from the reel used to build anticipation ahead of release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which reads as 35mm; the strip holds three full frames with a sliver of a fourth at the left edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of two tracks runs beside the picture; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base reads cool blue-cyan in the margins; the dye image looks balanced, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean on the panel.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot of an animated character, in a cel-animation style consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Consistent: analog optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks suit a late-1990s release print, and the animated look suits Pokémon: The Movie.
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 000069950
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
