SCENEMewtwo Preparing To Attack!/Ash and Friends - Transition Cell
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003020
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's bid to carry the franchise's television and trading card momentum onto the big screen, following the character's explosive arrival in American pop culture that same year. Promotional material for the film circulated widely in theaters and on television, building anticipation for a story centered on Mewtwo, a genetically engineered Pokémon whose existential conflict gave the movie a darker edge than the series' usual adventures. This advance marketing push made the film one of the defining theatrical events of the Pokémon boom, introducing audiences to stakes beyond the games and cartoon.
This cell captures a trailer moment built around two poles: Mewtwo readying itself for confrontation, and Ash Ketchum alongside Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur representing the familiar heroic side of the story. Trailer and transition cells like this one serve as connective tissue in animation production, bridging sequences for promotional cuts rather than the finished feature itself, which makes them a distinct collecting category. Mewtwo's inclusion carries particular weight, as the character became an instant icon of the film's identity. Pairing it with Ash's core team reflects the trailer's framing of good versus manufactured power.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle punches with clean edges, visible along the top and bottom of the strip.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run between the picture and the lower perforations, with a dashed line above them; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS or SDDS visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale blue tinted base along the edges, with saturated blue and purple dye in the image and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the frames look clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively from one shot, and the Pokémon-style animated characters match the film on record.
Era check
A 35mm positive with a two-track variable-area optical soundtrack is consistent with a 1999 theatrical trailer print, though Dolby data blocks are absent.
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 000070021
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
