Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding the franchise's leap from television and trading cards to the big screen. Produced to build anticipation for Pokémon: The First Movie, it circulated in theaters and on early VHS releases, introducing audiences to Mewtwo as a central cinematic figure. For a franchise still establishing its footing in Western markets, this kind of promotional material played a real role in shaping expectations for what Pokémon could be beyond its original pocket-monster premise, and such trailer ephemera is prized today for marking that transitional moment.
This cell, Mewtwo's Invitation, centers on Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose introduction redefined the series' tone with darker, more philosophical undertones. The idea of an invitation suggests the narrative hook used to draw trainers, and by extension audiences, into the film's central conflict. As a trailer cell, it exists to entice rather than narrate, offering a glimpse meant to stir curiosity. The presence of Lady Ilene and Lady Rin alongside this moment ties the promotional material to specific collector-recognized figures within the broader Pokémon trailer lineage.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which reads as 35mm; the strip holds three full frames, with a sliver of a fourth at the left edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and undamaged.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two bilateral tracks, with a dashed cyan line above them; Dolby Digital blocks fill the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted edge margins with a neutral clear base; the dye image looks saturated, with no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as a near-identical single shot, and the animated look fits the Pokémon trailer on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on 35mm is consistent with a late-1990s release print, and the animated picture matches the 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 000070041
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
