Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional machine Warner Bros. and Nintendo built to launch Pokémon: The First Movie in American theaters. The Pokémon franchise had exploded from handheld games into a television and merchandising phenomenon, and this theatrical trailer was a key piece of that rollout, introducing audiences to Mewtwo as the film's central figure before the feature itself premiered. 35mm trailer reels from this campaign are scarce survivors of a pre-digital marketing era.
This cell preserves a card bearing Mewtwo's name, the engineered Pokémon whose origin and conflict drove the first movie's plot and who remains one of the franchise's most sought after characters among collectors. A card of this kind served to announce the character within the trailer itself, a brief textual beat meant to build anticipation ahead of the full release. For enthusiasts of early Pokémon promotional material, a surviving piece naming Mewtwo directly connects to the character's introduction to Western audiences at the height of the franchise's first wave.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm positive release-print trailer strip for 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, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture on the soundtrack side, with dashed Dolby-style marks at its edge; no Dolby Digital blocks are readable between the perforations at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale blue-tinted base at the edges with a neutral clear look; the dye image shows strong blues and blacks, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible across the three frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot with the 'MEWTWO' title card, which fits a Pokémon: The Movie trailer.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, since the variable-area optical track and the positive image on a tinted base match theatrical trailers of 1999.
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 000070009
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
