Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released theatrically by Warner Bros. in North America under license from Nintendo and the Pokémon Company. The franchise was at its commercial peak, having crossed over from handheld games to animated television and now to the big screen, and trailers like this one served as the public's first glimpse of that leap. For collectors, these early promotional reels capture a cultural moment when Pokémon's reach extended well beyond its original audience.
This cell centers on Ash Ketchum, the series' lead trainer and the character through whom audiences experience the Pokémon world. The scene named, Ash rescuing his Pokémon, speaks to the bond between trainer and creature that anchors the franchise's appeal, a theme trailers of this era often used to establish stakes before a wider release. As a trailer cell rather than a finished feature frame, it belongs to the promotional materials meant to draw audiences into theaters, making it a document of anticipation as much as narrative.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tears or damage.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and the gaps between the lower perforations hold speckled Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base with a neutral dye image; no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the frames look clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated style fits the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: an analogue optical track plus Dolby Digital data blocks fit late-1990s 35mm release prints, and the colour stock looks typical of the period.
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 000069956
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
