Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in American theaters in November 1999, brought stateside by Warner Bros. after Nintendo's property had already reshaped children's entertainment through its games, trading cards, and television series. The film's marketing push, including teaser trailers like the one this cell derives from, was a significant cultural moment, introducing a generation of young audiences to cinema-going built around a franchise rather than a studio star. The movie's box office success proved that Pokémon's popularity could translate beyond television into theatrical release, cementing its place in late-1990s pop culture history.
This cell preserves a moment from that early promotional reel, built around Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon whose creation and inner conflict formed the emotional and narrative center of the film. As the villain and tragic figure of the story, Mewtwo has long drawn particular collector interest, representing both the darker tone the franchise could explore and the character's outsized presence in advertising materials. A trailer cell like this one captures a piece of the film's earliest public introduction, the moment before audiences had seen the finished story, when anticipation itself was the product being sold.
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 frames, all fully visible.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with no visible tears.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted clear base at the edges; the dye image looks neutral with saturated colour and no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated style is consistent with Pokémon: The Movie.
Era check
The optical track combined with Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations is consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print such as a 1999 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 000070117
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
