Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999) arrived as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's advance promotional reel for Pokémon: The First Movie, released into American theaters that November. It served as the first theatrical glimpse many audiences had of the franchise beyond television and trading cards, building anticipation during the height of Pokémon's North American breakout. As a promotional strip rather than a feature print, it holds a distinct place for collectors who track the earliest studio marketing materials tied to the phenomenon's film debut.
This cell preserves Mew, the rare and elusive Pokémon whose mythology anchors the movie's plot and whose design made it an object of fascination from the franchise's earliest days. A trailer cell such as this one captures a single frame used to entice audiences before the film's release, a fragment of marketing history rather than the finished feature itself. For collectors, Mew's presence here ties directly to the character's legendary status and to this early promotional moment in the franchise's theatrical history.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tearing or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs along one edge, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the perforations on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a slight blue-cyan tint at the edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no visible fading or red shift.
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 continuous shot, and the animated look is plausible for the Pokémon trailer on record.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: variable-area optical track plus Dolby Digital data blocks on a clear 35mm base fits a 1999 theatrical trailer.
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 000069980
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
