Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's early push to introduce American audiences to Pokémon: The First Movie, riding the franchise's explosive first wave of popularity in the West. Trailers from this period circulated on 35mm ahead of feature presentations in theaters, making them scarce physical artifacts of a marketing campaign rather than the film itself. Their survival as individual cells offers a window into how the Pokémon brand was first sold to a wide theatrical audience, well before home video and television reruns took over that role.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel centered on Ash Ketchum, the series' central trainer and its most recognizable face to collectors. A trailer cell like this one exists to entice, condensing character and stakes into a single frame meant to be glimpsed quickly on a theater screen. The phrase "Ash Knocked Down" names a moment of struggle or setback for him, suggesting the trailer leaned on tension and peril to hook new viewers unfamiliar with the character's journey.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations span each frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; they are rounded-rectangle shaped, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical soundtrack runs beside the picture, with a dashed line above it; Dolby Digital blocks appear in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a slight blue-green tint at the edges; the dye image looks neutral with saturated colours and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond a few small orange-brown specks within the picture area, which may be dirt or part of the artwork.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one animated shot, and the cel-style artwork is plausible for the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Optical analog track plus Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s theatrical release print, which suits a 1999 Pokémon 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 000070101
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
