Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as part of the promotional push surrounding Pokémon: The First Movie, the franchise's leap from television and trading cards into American theaters. Distributed through Warner Bros. in the United States, the trailer campaign introduced mainstream audiences to Mewtwo, the genetically engineered Pokémon at the center of the film's story, and helped turn a Japanese media property into a box office event. Trailer reels from this period are scarce as physical artifacts, since most promotional prints were shown briefly and discarded, making surviving 35mm fragments a direct link to how the film was first sold to the public.
This cell, titled Mewtwo's Invitation, centers on the summons that sets the film's plot in motion, with Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny appearing as recipients drawn into Mewtwo's design. Both characters are franchise mainstays, recurring across the anime in various forms, which gives this piece crossover appeal beyond trailer collectors alone. As a trailer cell rather than a finished film frame, it represents the marketing language used to build anticipation, a single still chosen to hint at mystery and stakes rather than tell the story outright.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Kodak 2383 release print of the Pokémon: The Movie trailer (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds four full frames in sequence.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two wavy white-on-black lines, with a dashed line above them; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode or SDDS tracks.
Edge print
Reads (mirrored) "2383 187 341 1 30 KODAK 28 1999 L", with a small square mark at the start; no "SAFETY FILM" text visible.
Base & colour
The base shows a light blue-cyan tint at the edges, with a neutral clear picture area and no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the strip looks clean in this capture.
Picture
Positive image; the four frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and nothing visible contradicts an animated Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Kodak 2383 print stock coded 1999 with an analogue optical track is consistent with a 1999 theatrical 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 000070173
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
