Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Warner Bros.' theatrical release of Pokémon: The First Movie, a cornerstone moment in the franchise's early American expansion. Built from 4Kids-dubbed footage and marketing materials produced to prime audiences for the Mewtwo and Mew showdown, the trailer circulated widely in theaters ahead of the feature, introducing moviegoers to the stakes of the film's central conflict. For a generation discovering Pokémon through Saturday morning television, this trailer was often their first glimpse of the property rendered at cinematic scale.
This cell preserves a moment belonging to Mew, the rare and mythical Pokémon whose mystique anchors the film's plot and whose design has long made it a favorite among collectors of early franchise material. Mew preparing to attack signals a turn toward the film's climactic tension, the quiet mythical creature revealing its power. Trailer cells like this one carry a particular appeal: they capture Pokémon as it was being sold to the world, a single frame from the reel that announced the franchise's arrival on the big screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which is the 35mm layout; the strip holds three full frames and a partial fourth at the right edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched with no visible tears.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the lower edge, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a faint blue-cyan edge tint; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated imagery is consistent with a Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fits a late-1990s theatrical release print, in line 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 000069994
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
