Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999 from Warner Bros., following the anime's explosive television debut earlier that year. Based on Nintendo's billion-dollar franchise, it brought Pikachu, Ash, and the wider Pokémon roster to the big screen for the first time, backed by a marketing campaign that included teaser trailers circulating ahead of release. For a generation discovering the franchise through cards, games, and Saturday morning television, the film's theatrical run marked a cultural peak, and promotional material from that window, trailers especially, has become sought after as physical evidence of that moment.
This cell comes from that promotional reel, a trailer frame built around Mew, the rare and mythical Pokémon whose mystique anchors the film's plot and marketing alike. Mew's scarcity in the games made it a prized figure among collectors well before the movie, and its appearance here in motion, dodging an attack, speaks to the character's defining trait of elusiveness. A trailer cell like this one captures the film selling its central mystery: Mew as something glimpsed, pursued, and never quite caught.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print strip from Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
Four-perforation-per-frame layout on both edges, consistent with 35mm; the strip holds three full frames.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with a dashed line above them and Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue tint on the outer edges, neutral clear base between the perforations, and the dye image shows no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the animated look is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus an optical analogue track fit a late-1990s release print, which suits a 1999 theatrical 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 000070091
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
