MOVIEPokémon The Movie: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice
SCENEKeldeo Running With Ash and Pikachu/Pikachu Holding On To Keldeo’s Tail
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2012
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003254
Film RecordPublic record
Directed by
Kunihiko Yuyama
Studio
OLM, Inc. · 68 min
Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon The Movie: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice arrived in 2012 as the fifteenth entry in the long-running animated franchise, produced by OLM for Toho and released in Japan before reaching international audiences through dubbed editions. It marked the franchise's continued presence in the Best Wishes era, built around the Swords of Justice legendary quartet and their conflict with Kyurem. For longtime fans the film is a snapshot of the series mid-generation, pairing established companions with newer legendary designs as the franchise kept renewing itself for each movie season.
This cell centers on Keldeo, a Swords of Justice legendary whose scarcity in merchandise and film appearances makes it a draw for collectors, shown here in motion alongside Ash and Pikachu, with Pikachu holding onto Keldeo's tail. The moment reads as companionship and momentum, a shared journey beat rather than a battle still, the kind of connective footage that links the human cast to the legendary at the story's heart. As a 35mm film cell, it preserves a single frame excised from the actual release print, a physical artifact of the movie's theatrical run rather than a reproduction or promotional piece.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print strip of Pokémon The Movie: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice (2012).
Gauge
Perforations are the four-per-frame layout on both edges, as 35mm uses; the strip holds roughly two and a half frames, with one frame cropped at the left.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, in evenly spaced rows of rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched; about twelve are visible along each edge.
Soundtrack
A pale-blue variable-area optical track with two wavy white modulation lines runs along the bottom edge beside the picture; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS line or SDDS tracks are visible.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base looks pale cream-grey and fairly neutral; the dye image shows saturated blues, yellows and oranges with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks are seen at this size; a few tiny dust specks sit on the picture area and the surface looks clean.
Picture
A positive image; the frames carry a continuous action shot, with a yellow mouse-like character in two near-identical frames, and the animated look fits the film on record.
Era check
The optical track, cream-grey base and saturated positive dye image fit a 35mm release print from around 2012, though the strip itself carries no printed date.
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 000071029
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
