Pokémon: The Movie Trailer arrived in 1999 as Warner Bros. and Nintendo's joint push to carry the Pokémon phenomenon from television into theaters, previewing Mewtwo Strikes Back for American audiences. The campaign rode the crest of Pokémania, a cultural wave built on trading cards, the Game Boy titles, and the daily cartoon, and it marked one of the first times a Japanese animated property received a full theatrical marketing rollout in the West. For collectors, trailer material from this period captures the moment the franchise proved it could fill cinemas, not just living rooms.
This cell centers on Mewtwo and Mew, the two figures whose rivalry anchors the film's plot: a genetically engineered Pokémon confronting the ancient original it was cloned from. As a trailer strip, it comes from the promotional reel assembled to entice audiences before the feature's release, a format prized by collectors for its scarcity and its role in advertising history rather than storytelling itself. Pairing these two characters together speaks directly to the film's central tension, making this piece a touchstone for anyone tracing the franchise's earliest cinematic ambitions.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie Trailer (1999).
Gauge
Four perforations per frame along both edges, which reads as 35mm; the strip holds two full frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, with rounded-corner rectangular holes that look cleanly punched; the lower edge sits between the sound area and the border.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture; the Dolby Digital block pattern appears in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations, and a dashed line runs above the optical track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to light bluish base with neutral-to-cool dye image, no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the two frames look like consecutive frames of one shot, with a blue light burst and large '150 151' numerals, matching a trailer countdown card.
Era check
Dual optical plus Dolby Digital data blocks is consistent with a late-1990s 35mm release print, fitting a 1999 trailer.
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 000071034
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
