SCENEBulbasaur and Vulpix/Blastoise Clone - Transition Cell
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003078
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released theatrically by Warner Bros. in the United States under license from Nintendo and Pikachu Project 1998. The trailer era was a crucial window for the franchise, introducing American audiences to the mythos of Mewtwo alongside familiar faces from the animated series, and cementing Pokémon as a cross-media phenomenon spanning games, cards, television, and film. Preview reels like this one were struck in limited quantities for theatrical distribution, making surviving 35mm material from this campaign scarce and sought after by collectors tracing the franchise's earliest cinematic footprint.
This cell captures Bulbasaur and Vulpix alongside a Blastoise clone, figures pulled from the clone subplot central to the film's promotional materials. Bulbasaur, one of the three original starter Pokémon, carries enduring appeal among collectors for its foundational place in the series. Vulpix's appearance alongside a cloned Blastoise situates this piece within the trailer's effort to tease Mewtwo's artificial Pokémon army, a key plot thread. As a transition cell, it would have bridged distinct trailer segments, part of the connective visual rhythm used to build anticipation ahead of the feature's release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital 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.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks beside the picture, with Dolby Digital-style data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The clear base has a slight blue-cyan tint at the edges, and the dye image looks saturated and neutral with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the image looks clean across all three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated artwork is plausible for a Pokémon film.
Era check
Dual optical analogue tracks plus Dolby Digital data blocks on a 35mm print fit a late-1990s release print, in keeping 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 000070079
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
