Pokémon: The Movie Trailer surfaced in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo prepared American audiences for the franchise's theatrical debut, riding the crest of Pokémania that swept through toy aisles, trading cards, and Saturday morning schedules. The teaser served as a cultural marker, signaling that a television phenomenon was crossing into cinemas, and 35mm promotional reels from this campaign remain scarce artifacts of that transitional moment for both the studio and the property itself.
This cell, bearing the name Ash and Friends, centers on the core trio of Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, the companions who traveled alongside the young trainer through the earliest chapters of the saga. Pikachu's presence alone draws collector interest, given its status as the franchise's defining mascot, while Squirtle and Bulbasaur round out the starter lineup fans recognize instantly. As a trailer cell, this strip represents the promotional machinery built to introduce these characters to a wider audience, a snapshot of the marketing push that carried Pokémon from screens into theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm 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 side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and the strip's lower edge also shows a Dolby Digital data pattern in the gaps between perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges, and the dye image looks neutral and saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean on the base side.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the cartoon characters are consistent with a Pokémon film.
Era check
Dual optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks suggest a late-1990s release print, which fits a 1999 Pokémon 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 000070025
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
