National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING

AUTHENTIC

CROWN CERTIFIED

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MOVIEThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker TV Commercial

SCENELink Fighting

FILM FORMAT35mm

YEAR2003

CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003220

FILM NOTES

Released in 2003, The Wind Waker marked Nintendo's bold reinvention of The Legend of Zelda for the GameCube, trading realism for a cel-shaded art style that divided early audiences but has since become beloved. The television commercial produced to promote the game captured this shift for a mainstream audience, introducing a new visual language for Link and his world through broadcast media rather than gameplay alone. As one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, the campaign surrounding the game's launch remains a touchstone for collectors tracking the series' promotional history.

This cell preserves a moment from that commercial featuring Link himself, the series' perennial hero, shown here in combat. Fighting sequences are central to Link's identity across every Zelda installment, and a glimpse of him in action during promotional footage holds particular appeal for those who collect material tied to the character's many visual incarnations. As a piece of 35mm commercial film, this cell represents the physical media used to broadcast Nintendo's advertising in the early 2000s, a tangible artifact from a transitional era in the franchise's visual evolution.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm release print of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker TV commercial (2003).

Gauge: 35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations: Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle punches that look clean and uniform.
Soundtrack: Two white variable-area optical tracks run between the picture and the lower perforations, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print: Not visible in this capture
Base & colour: Clear base with a blue-teal tint along both edges; the dye image reads neutral to slightly warm, with no obvious fading.
Projection history: No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture: Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and a rating card reading 'G8+ Low level animated violence' matches a Wind Waker TV spot.
Era check: Consistent with a 2003 release print: analogue optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks match the format of that period, and the Australian rating card fits a TV commercial.

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 000070995

Original Film Capture As received

The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation

Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size