Warner Bros. handled distribution as Pokémon mania crossed from Japan into American pop culture, and this trailer arrived ahead of the franchise's theatrical debut in 1999, a release that proved animated properties built on a television and trading card phenomenon could command genuine box office attention. The film it promoted, built around Mewtwo's origin as a manufactured Pokémon wrestling with questions of purpose and identity, became a cultural touchstone for a generation of young viewers and set the template for the annual Pokémon movie tradition that followed.
This cell preserves a moment from that early promotional reel, built around Mewtwo alone, the engineered Pokémon whose power and solitary nature made it an instant draw for collectors chasing the franchise's darker, more ambiguous figure. A trailer cell like this one functioned as advance advertising, a single frame meant to stir anticipation before the feature itself unspooled, and the phrase attached here states its own mood directly: Mewtwo on the attack, asserting the force and menace that defined its introduction to American audiences and secured its lasting appeal among collectors of 35mm promotional material.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame on both edges, 35mm layout; the strip holds three full frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and 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 perforations; no DTS or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale cyan-blue base with a neutral to cool dye image and strongly saturated blue picture area; no fading or warm shift seen.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines run through all three frames in the picture area; no splices or cue marks seen.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot of a pale shape on deep blue, plausibly matching a Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on 35mm is consistent with a 1999 theatrical release print or trailer, which carried both formats.
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 000070053
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
