Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the marketing push that brought Pokémon from handheld screens and Saturday morning television into American movie theaters. Warner Bros. distributed the feature in the United States, riding the crest of a cultural wave that had turned a Game Boy property into a global phenomenon. The trailer itself served as an early promotional artifact, built to stoke anticipation for the franchise's theatrical debut and to introduce moviegoers to the darker, more mythic register the film would strike through its central antagonist.
This cell centers on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose creation and purpose drive the film's conflict, long prized by collectors for its gravity and singular design among the franchise's cast. A promotional trailer frame like this one was struck to circulate ahead of release, offering audiences a glimpse of tone rather than plot. Naming the moment preparing to attack signals a point of mounting tension, Mewtwo positioned as a force gathering its power, a fitting emblem of the menace the marketing campaign wanted audiences to anticipate.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer for Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames, with the third cropped at the right.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks beside the picture, with a dashed line above them and Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a faint cool blue tint along both edges; the dye image shows no visible fading or colour shift at this size.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the single round bright spot on the middle frame is a camera reflection and is ignored.
Picture
Positive image, three consecutive frames of one static shot, consistent with a Pokémon trailer; the frames show no sign of belonging to another film.
Era check
Optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations on a 35mm positive fit a late-1990s release-print trailer, so this is consistent with a 1999 Pokémon trailer print.
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 000070016
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
