SCENEPikachu, Bulbasaur, Vulpix and Brock/Blastoise Clone - Transition Cell
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR1999
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003086
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding the franchise's explosive theatrical debut in the West, a joint effort spanning Nintendo, Game Freak, and Warner Bros. for domestic distribution. The trailer reel predates the feature itself in the public eye, built to stoke anticipation among a fanbase already saturated by the television series and trading card phenomenon. These promotional strips are a distinct category for collectors, separate from the finished film, capturing Pokémon at the exact moment it crossed from a handheld game into a cinematic event.
This cell marks a transition point within that trailer, a passage designed to move the eye and the story forward rather than settle on a single scene. Pikachu remains the franchise's defining face, the character collectors pursue above all others, while Bulbasaur and Vulpix round out the frame as early, beloved entries from the original roster. Brock's Blastoise clone places this moment within the film's climactic cloning arc, tying the cell to the narrative stakes that made the movie a cultural touchstone. As a transition piece, it preserves the trailer's rhythm, a brief connective beat between larger reveals.
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 and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and the Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the perforations on the sound edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges with a neutral, saturated dye image in the frames; no fading or red shift seen.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames are consecutive and nearly identical, one continuous shot, and the animated look fits the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Analogue optical tracks together with Dolby Digital blocks are consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, and the blue-tinted base suits that era's print stock.
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 000070087
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
