Released in 1999, Pokémon: The Movie brought Warner Bros. and Nintendo's juggernaut franchise to American theaters at the height of Pokémania, adapting the Japanese feature Mewtwo Strikes Back for a generation raised on the trading cards and the television series. The film served as a origin story for the fandom's darkest and most powerful creation, cementing Mewtwo as a figure of tragedy and ambition rather than simple collectible charm. Trailer material from this release circulated widely in theaters and on promotional reels, giving early audiences their first glimpse of the film's central conflict before general release.
This cell preserves a trailer moment built around Mewtwo and Mew, the genetically engineered clone and its genetic source, a pairing that anchors the entire narrative. Mewtwo represents power turned inward, a being questioning its own origin, while Mew carries the mystique of rarity and myth within the Pokémon world. Collectors prize this pairing because it distills the film's emotional and thematic core into a single promotional frame, a piece of the marketing campaign that introduced two of the franchise's most sought after characters together, side by side, before the full story unfolded on screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame on both edges, consistent with 35mm; the strip holds two frames, shown in full.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, cleanly punched with no tears or distortion visible.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges with neutral black picture area; the dye image shows saturated blue and white with no fading evident.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the two frames.
Picture
Positive image; two consecutive frames of the same shot, showing a '150' and '151' counter card consistent with a trailer countdown.
Era check
Dual optical track with Dolby Digital blocks fits a late-1990s 35mm release print, consistent with the 1999 trailer on record.
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 000071032
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
