MOVIEThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker TV Commercial
SCENECloaked Aryll in Hyrule
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2003
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003225
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Nintendo unveiled The Wind Waker to American audiences in 2003 with a television campaign built to soften the shock of its cel-shaded art style, a dramatic break from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The commercial format gave Nintendo of America a tightly controlled window to reintroduce Link and the broader Hyrule mythos to a mainstream audience, and surviving 35mm elements from this advertising run are scarce since broadcast reels were rarely preserved once their media buys ended.
This cell centers on Aryll, Link's younger sister, shown here cloaked and placed within Hyrule itself rather than her native Outset Island. That pairing of character and setting signals a narrative beat tied to her abduction, the inciting event that sends Link across the Great Sea. Aryll remains a favorite among Wind Waker collectors for her small but pivotal role in the story's opening movement. A cell like this, drawn from a commercial rather than the feature, offers a rare glimpse of how Nintendo chose to frame her presence for an audience encountering the game for the first time.
Authentication Findings8 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 frames, all in the same dark scene.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes; no torn or distorted holes seen.
Soundtrack
Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the perforations on the sound edge, with two thin white analogue lines running alongside the picture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges with a neutral clear margin; the dye image reads dark violet and blue with no obvious fade.
Projection history
Fine scratches and small specks show through the dark upper part of the frames, consistent with a print that has been run through a projector.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-static shot, and nothing in them contradicts a game commercial.
Era check
Dolby Digital blocks plus analogue optical lines suit a 2003 35mm release print, though a theatrical trailer reel of that period could carry the same layout.
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 000071000
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
