Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and Shogakukan brought the Japanese animated feature to Western audiences at the height of Pokémon's franchise explosion. Built around Mewtwo, a laboratory-engineered Pokémon grappling with questions of identity and purpose, the film served as a bridge between the television series and the broader mythology fans were hungry to see on the big screen. Its box office success cemented Pokémon as a dominant force in late-nineties pop culture, and the promotional trailer material that preceded its release became an early artifact of that marketing wave.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer campaign, pairing Mewtwo, the film's central antagonist-turned-tragic-figure, with Pikachu, the franchise's most recognizable ambassador. The pairing of these two figures in a single promotional frame speaks to the emotional stakes the studio wanted audiences to anticipate, conflict and distress rendered through characters already beloved from television. Trailer cells like this one circulate among collectors precisely because they capture the film's marketing push rather than the finished feature, offering a piece of the anticipation built before the movie ever reached screens.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, the first two near-identical and the third a different shot.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with no tears or torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track 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 to slightly blue-grey base with a neutral dye image; colours in the frames look saturated and not faded or red-shifted.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the strip looks clean, with only small flecks of dust or debris in the last frame.
Picture
Positive colour image; the first two frames are consecutive and near-identical, the third is a cut to a different shot; the Pokémon characters match the film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 release trailer print: 35mm positive stock with an analogue optical track and Pokémon animation fitting the film on record.
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 000070114
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
