Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the marketing push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, released in the United States by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and Pokémon USA brought the franchise to American theaters. The trailer reel played ahead of the feature in cinemas, part of the broader wave that carried Pokémon from a handheld game into a cultural phenomenon spanning television, trading cards, and film. For collectors, these promotional strips are a record of how the studio chose to introduce the series to a theatrical audience at the height of its early popularity.
This cell preserves a title card, the frame used to announce the film itself before any footage of story or characters unspools. It is a promotional fragment rather than a narrative moment, meant to signal the Pokémon name to audiences gathering in theaters. Such cards are prized by collectors for marking the exact point where branding meets film history, a single strip tying the trailer reel to the larger release it was built to announce.
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 complete frames side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle punches, cleanly cut with no visible tearing or distortion at this size.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations; no DTS timecode line or SDDS tracks seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base reads neutral to slightly cool blue-tinted at the margins; the dye image looks saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same shot repeating, and the Pokémon: The First Movie logo matches the film on record.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus optical tracks and a stable colour print base are consistent with a late-1990s release print or trailer of 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 000070126
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
