Released in 1999 by Warner Bros. in North America under license from Nintendo and Shogakukan, with original production by OLM and Shogakukan Pictures in Japan, Pokémon: The First Movie arrived at the height of Pokémania, when the franchise dominated toy aisles, playgrounds, and Saturday morning schedules alike. The theatrical trailer that preceded it became its own cultural artifact, teasing audiences with the franchise's first serious attempt at a darker, more ambitious narrative. It introduced casual viewers and devoted fans alike to Mewtwo, a creation that signaled the series could move beyond simple creature battles into questions of identity and purpose.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel, built around Mewtwo preparing to attack. Mewtwo stands apart from the roster of friendly, approachable Pokémon that defined the franchise's early marketing, offering instead a figure of engineered power and quiet menace. Collectors prize Mewtwo cells for this very contrast, the sense of a character designed to unsettle rather than charm. As a trailer cell, this frame belongs to the machinery of anticipation itself, the brief glimpses meant to draw audiences into theaters before the film's full story unfolds.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer for Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle punches with clean edges and no visible tears or missing holes.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs inside the lower perforations, with a dashed line above it; Dolby Digital data blocks sit between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue edge tint, neutral dye image with strong blue and black tones and no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames show the same shot almost unchanged and run consecutively; the content is plausibly from a Pokémon trailer, though the capture cannot confirm the exact title.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: optical analogue track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits 1999, though the capture does not confirm the exact title.
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 000070012
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
