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National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING
A
AUTHENTIC
CROWN CERTIFIED
Film cell NFV-000003241 Tap to enlarge
MOVIEThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker TV Commercial
SCENEThe Legend of Zelda/Nintendo GameCube - Logo Card
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2003
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003241

FILM NOTES

Nintendo released The Wind Waker in 2003 as the latest chapter of The Legend of Zelda, debuting its distinctive cel-shaded art style for the GameCube console. The television commercial supporting its launch introduced audiences to this visual departure, pairing the franchise's established identity with a fresh look meant to carry it into a new generation. As part of Nintendo's broader marketing push that year, the spot served to announce the game's arrival alongside the hardware it was built for, placing both brand marks before the viewing public in a single, brief promotional moment captured here on film.

This cell preserves the logo card pairing The Legend of Zelda with the Nintendo GameCube, the kind of bridging frame that closes out or introduces a commercial segment by anchoring the product to its platform. Logo cards like this one are sought by collectors for their role as a clean, graphic record of branding history, free of character action yet rich in context. Here the Zelda name sits alongside the GameCube mark, a pairing that situates the cell squarely within the console era's advertising language and the franchise's ongoing identity at that moment in its history.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

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

Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which is the 35mm layout; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes, cleanly punched with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations, with two white optical tracks beside the picture; no DTS timecode line is visible.
Edge print
Green numerals along the top edge read as 2 0 4 9 9 6 8 (seen reversed), a key-number style code; no 'SAFETY FILM' text is visible.
Base & colour
Light blue tint at both edges with a clear base; the dye image looks neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
A few ragged white lines run along the track area; no cue marks or splices are seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; three consecutive frames show the same box art, and the Zelda Wind Waker Limited Edition Value Pack matches the film on record.
Era check
Optical tracks plus Dolby Digital blocks on a blue-edged base are consistent with an early-2000s 35mm release print, which suits a 2003 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 000071016
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