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

SCENECloaked Aryll Close-Up

FILM FORMAT35mm

YEAR2003

CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003231

FILM NOTES

Nintendo released The Wind Waker in 2003 as the follow-up to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, carrying the Zelda franchise into a new visual language built around cel-shaded animation. The shift was divisive at first announcement, with early promotional material working overtime to sell audiences on the toon-shaded aesthetic before the game arrived on GameCube that same year. This television commercial served as part of that marketing push, introducing the cartoon rendering style and the game's sailing-centered world to a mainstream audience who had known Hyrule only through more realistic polygonal forms.

This cell centers on Aryll, Link's younger sister, whose role in the story sets the emotional stakes of the opening chapters and motivates his journey across the Great Sea. A close-up presented as cloaked suggests a moment of concealment or disguise tied to her part in the narrative, a detail that lends the cell intrigue beyond simple character introduction. For collectors, a commercial-sourced frame of a supporting figure like Aryll is a scarce way to hold a piece of the game's earliest public-facing imagery, distinct from in-game stills or box art.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker TV commercial.

Gauge: Perforation layout looks like 35mm, with four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames.
Perforations: Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with rounded-rectangle holes of uniform shape.
Soundtrack: A dense band of Dolby Digital data blocks sits in the gaps between the lower perforations, with a thin line pattern and blue stripe running above it.
Edge print: Green numerals along the top edge read upside down as 8 9 9 4 0 2, a key-number style code; no other text is legible.
Base & colour: Base looks clear with a light blue-teal tint at the edges, and the dye image shows purple and violet tones with no obvious fading.
Projection history: No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; a few fine white lines run through the soundtrack area.
Picture: Positive image, three frames that appear to repeat one continuous shot; the content cannot be confirmed against the film on record from this capture.
Era check: Dolby Digital data between the perforations and a clear base are consistent with a 2003 35mm release print, though this strip is too brief to confirm the title.

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 000071006

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