Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999) arrived as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's joint push to carry the Pokémon phenomenon from television screens into theaters, teasing Pokémon: The First Movie ahead of its wide release. The late-nineties merchandising wave was near its peak, and a theatrical trailer on 35mm marked the franchise's bid for big-screen legitimacy, reaching audiences who had only known Pikachu and company through broadcast syndication and trading cards.
This cell carries the www.pokemonthemovie.com promotional address, placing it among the earliest web-driven tie-ins for the property, a small artifact of studios experimenting with internet marketing. Pikachu, the franchise's enduring mascot, anchors the frame alongside Dragonite, a rarer pull for collectors since the dragon-type seldom received this kind of feature billing. Together they represent the trailer's job: pairing the familiar face with a more exotic companion to signal scale and variety, promising audiences a bigger roster than the television series alone had shown.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, each carrying the same web address and card layout.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no tears or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along one edge with two parallel tracks visible, plus a dashed blue-white data line outside them; no Dolby Digital blocks are seen between the lower-edge perforations at this size.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a light blue tint at the edge margins; the black picture area and yellow lettering look neutral, with no red shift or fading seen.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible, only a camera reflection on the right frame that is ignored.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames repeat one static end card, white-on-black card artwork with the yellow web address pokemonthemovie.com, and it matches the Pokémon movie on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 1999 35mm release print: optical analogue soundtrack with a dashed data line, standard 35mm perforations, and a pokemonthemovie.com end card typical of late-1990s trailers.
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 000070149
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
