Pokémon: The First Movie arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's attempt to translate a global phenomenon into a theatrical event, and the trailer that preceded it became an artifact in its own right. Released into a marketplace primed by Pokémania, the teaser introduced American audiences to a darker, more philosophical corner of the franchise, one built around cloning, identity, and conflict rather than simple adventure. For many collectors, this promotional material represents the bridge between the television phenomenon and the franchise's cinematic ambitions, a moment when Pokémon staked its claim on the big screen.
This cell isolates Mewtwo, the engineered Pokémon whose existence drives the film's central tension and whose brooding presence set it apart from the franchise's friendlier mascots. A close-up of this character carries weight precisely because Mewtwo was marketed as the movie's dramatic centerpiece, the figure meant to signal that this was more than a kids' cartoon. As a frame drawn from a trailer, the cell preserves not the finished feature but the promise of it, the kind of forward-looking material studios used to build anticipation before release. Collectors seek these pieces for that liminal status, caught between advertisement and artifact.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release-print strip from the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm layout, four perforations per frame along both edges, with three full frames on this strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle shape, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track sits beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data 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-cyan tint at the edges; the dye image looks neutral to cool, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible across the three frames.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot of a stylised animated close-up, which fits an animated feature trailer, though nothing here names the title.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus an optical analogue track on a colour positive print fit a late-1990s release print, in line with 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 000070134
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
