Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the marketing engine behind Pokémon: The First Movie, released stateside by Warner Bros. in partnership with Nintendo and Pikachu Project 1998. The Pokémon franchise had already swept through television, trading cards, and handheld games, and this promotional reel was built to carry that momentum into theaters, signaling to audiences that the phenomenon had grown large enough to command the big screen. For collectors, trailer material from this period captures the franchise at the height of its original cultural surge, before sequels and spin offs multiplied the brand into countless directions.
This cell, called Pikachu Falling, centers on the franchise's defining character, the one figure whose image alone could sell a film before a single line of dialogue was spoken. A trailer cell exists to tease rather than narrate, offering a fragment meant to stir recognition and anticipation rather than complete a scene. The word falling attached to this moment suggests a beat of vulnerability or momentum within the preview, a single instant pulled from the larger promotional sequence built to draw viewers toward the feature film itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Kodak 2383 release print of the 1999 Pokémon: The Movie trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four complete frames in a row.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes; none torn or missing in this capture.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run between the picture and the lower perforations, with a dashed cue line above them; no Dolby Digital data blocks are seen between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Upper edge reads, mirrored, "2383 187 341 1 30 KODAK 28 1999 L"; no "SAFETY FILM" text or other codes are visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Clear base shows a pale blue-green tint at the edges; the dye image looks neutral to cool, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the only mark is a camera reflection ring on one frame, which is ignored.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated look is consistent with a Pokémon film.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock with a 1999 date code and a variable-area optical track is consistent with a 1999 release print of this 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 000070172
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
