Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company brought the franchise's anime arm to the West on a wave of card-game and Game Boy mania. Built around Mewtwo's origin story, it was paired theatrically with a Pikachu short and became a genuine cultural event, pulling in audiences well beyond the usual kids'-matinee crowd. Promotional trailer reels circulated to theaters in advance, cut separately from the finished feature, and surviving 35mm clips from that promotional run are scarce artifacts of the hype machine that introduced Pokémon to mainstream American moviegoing.
This cell preserves a strip from that trailer, centered on Mew. As the rare, mythical counterpart to Mewtwo, Mew carries outsized significance in Pokémon lore, often positioned as the original and gentler template from which the film's antagonist was cloned. A trailer cell differs from a release print in that it exists only to tease the feature, meaning this fragment belonged to the advertising campaign itself rather than the movie audiences ultimately watched in full, making it a marker of anticipation rather than narrative.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer strip for Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame on both edges and three full frames in view, which matches 35mm layout.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes; no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, and the gaps between the lower perforations hold speckled blocks that look like Dolby Digital data.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue tint at the edges; the dye image shows saturated purples and blues with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean on the panel.
Picture
Positive image, three consecutive frames from one shot with near-identical framing; the picture shows an animated, anime-style white creature, which fits the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, so the soundtrack and base are consistent with a 1999 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 000069982
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
