Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo capitalized on the height of Pokémon's North American breakout, pairing the feature with a Pikachu short and a marketing blitz that placed trailers in theaters months ahead of release. The film's centerpiece conflict, a genetically engineered Pokémon wrestling with questions of identity and purpose, gave the franchise an unexpected dose of gravity amid the merchandising frenzy, and the promotional reels that preceded the movie became collectible artifacts of that crossover moment between children's entertainment and global phenomenon.
This cell preserves a trailer moment built around Ash Ketchum and Mewtwo, the two figures most central to the film's climactic confrontation. Ash, the franchise's perpetual protagonist, represents the human stakes of the story, while Mewtwo stands as its most ambitious creation, a Pokémon defined by power and inner conflict rather than simple heroics. A trailer cell like this one exists to announce scale and tension before the full story unfolds, offering collectors a fragment of the advance promotion that first signaled this was no ordinary Pokémon episode but a theatrical event built around genuine confrontation.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print strip from the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout, with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three full frames, shown side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-grey tint on the edges; the dye image looks neutral, with deep blues and clean whites and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean on the panel.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated cel style is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release print: optical tracks plus Dolby Digital data blocks were standard on 35mm prints of that period, and the animated picture fits the film.
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 000070099
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
