Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo moved to capitalize on a cultural wave sweeping American youth culture that year. The trailer accompanied the theatrical rollout of Pokémon: The First Movie, itself an adaptation drawing from the wildly popular anime series and card game. For a new generation of moviegoers, this was often their first glimpse of Pokémon on the big screen, making trailer material from this release a touchstone of late nineties pop culture and early franchise merchandising history.
This cell preserves a moment built around Pikachu, the character most responsible for the franchise's crossover appeal and the figure most sought after by collectors across every era of Pokémon memorabilia. The name Pikachu Crying establishes the emotional register of this piece, a moment of sorrow attached to the character at the heart of the series. Trailer cells like this one carry a particular appeal, offering a glimpse of how the studio chose to promote the film's emotional stakes to audiences before the feature itself ever reached theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three full frames side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of two tracks runs between the picture and the lower perforations; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode or SDDS tracks are visible.
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 and saturated, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Faint vertical streaks show in the dark background of the frames, with no splices or cue marks seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot of a near-identical yellow cartoon character, which fits the film on record.
Era check
A two-track optical soundtrack on a clear-based 35mm print is consistent with a 1999 theatrical trailer, though the digital formats are not visible in this crop.
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 000070112
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
