Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon's explosive crossover into American theaters, riding the wave of the Game Boy phenomenon and the animated series that had become a fixture of Saturday morning television. Distributed to build anticipation for the feature film, these trailer prints circulated briefly in theaters before being pulled from projection booths, making surviving 35mm fragments scarce artifacts of a cultural moment when Pokémon mania was at its peak and Nintendo's franchise was cementing itself as a permanent fixture of American pop culture.
This cell groups four of the franchise's most recognizable original creatures together, a pairing that speaks to the ensemble appeal driving the series' early marketing. Pikachu, the mascot and electric heart of the property, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, two of the three starter Pokémon beloved by the earliest generation of trainers, and Vulpix, a fan favorite fire type, appearing together suggests a promotional moment meant to showcase variety and charm. A trailer cell like this one exists to entice, a single frame pulled from footage designed to sell audiences on a world populated by exactly these kinds of characters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print trailer strip from Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete, near-identical frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, and cleanly punched with no visible tears.
Soundtrack
Two white variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, plus a dashed line above them, with a speckled Dolby Digital data pattern between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a faint light-blue tint along both edges; the dye image looks neutral and saturated, with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices or cue marks appear on these three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively with almost no change between them, and the animated Pokémon characters fit the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: a 35mm strip carrying analogue optical tracks and Dolby Digital data blocks, which was the standard theatrical format of that period.
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 000070031
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
