Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo, riding the crest of Pokémania as it swept through playgrounds, trading card aisles, and Saturday morning television. The promotional trailer that preceded it was a cultural event in its own right, screened ahead of unrelated features months before the film itself opened, giving a generation their first glimpse of Mewtwo's origin story and the legendary Mew. Preserved on 35mm, these trailer strips document the marketing machine that turned a Game Boy phenomenon into a theatrical juggernaut.
This cell isolates Mew in a moment of evasive action, dodging an attack, a fitting introduction for a creature whose mythology centers on elusiveness and near-mythical rarity within the Pokémon universe. Trailer cells like this one carry particular appeal for collectors since they represent the first public unveiling of footage rather than the finished feature, capturing promotional artwork and animation cuts chosen specifically to entice audiences. Mew's presence alone, paired with motion implied by the dodge, makes this a desirable fragment of pre-release Pokémon history.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three full frames, with partial frame lines at the strip ends.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or stretched holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track (two tracks) runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations and a dashed timecode-style line above the optical tracks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue tint at the edges; the dye image looks neutral to cool blue, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond a few tiny dark specks in the image area; no scratch lines, cue marks or splices visible.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and the animated style is plausible for the Pokémon film on record, though no title card is visible.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: analogue optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks and a timecode line fits late-1990s 35mm trailer prints.
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 000070090
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
