Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as the franchise's theatrical debut, distributed in the West by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and Pokémon USA brought the phenomenon from Japan to American multiplexes. Riding the crest of the Pokémon craze that had already conquered television and toy aisles, the film's promotional campaign, including trailer material like this, played a real role in building anticipation for a franchise still proving it could fill theaters. These early trailer fragments document that marketing push, preserved now as artifacts of the moment Pokémon crossed into mainstream American cinema.
This cell comes from trailer footage promoting that release, centered on Mew, the rare and elusive Pokémon whose mythic status within the games and show made it a natural choice for teaser material meant to intrigue audiences. Mew's presence signals the trailer's intent to tease the film's central conflict, the clash between Mew and its engineered counterpart. Trailer cells like this exist outside the finished film's continuity, functioning as promotional ephemera rather than narrative scenes, which gives them a distinct appeal to collectors interested in the marketing history surrounding Pokémon's theatrical arrival.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, cleanly punched with no tears or missing holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode or SDDS tracks seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to faintly blue-tinted base, with a neutral-to-slightly-warm dye image and 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 one continuous shot, and the animated look is plausible for the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, consistent with a 1999 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 000070044
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
