Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pikachu's Vacation screened as the companion short preceding The Power of One in 1999, part of Warner Bros.' theatrical rollout of the Pokémon franchise at the height of its North American popularity. Produced by OLM under Nintendo and Game Freak's supervision, the short gave Pikachu and a gathering of other Pokémon a rare adventure free of trainers, built around play and small conflicts rather than battles. For many collectors it represents the franchise's purest early tone, a gentler counterpoint to the main feature, and its imagery circulated widely through trading cards, magazines and promotional stills of the period.
This cell gathers Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Togepi and Vulpix in what the credited name calls a sky scene, placing these four together in the same frame of animation. Squirtle and Bulbasaur anchor the original starter lineup, both long sought by collectors for their foundational status in the series, while Togepi and Vulpix extend the moment's cast with two of the era's most recognizable early creatures. A sky scene suggests one of the short's airborne or open-air passages, a recurring device in Pikachu's Vacation used to stage group interaction among the Pokémon.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of Pokémon: Pikachu's Vacation (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four-perforation frame pitch on both edges, with three consecutive frames held on the strip.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame along both edges, rounded-rectangle shape, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of several parallel modulated lines runs beside the picture, with Dolby-style dashed data below it; no DTS timecode or SDDS tracks seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue tinted base margins with a neutral clear base; the dye image looks saturated with no visible fading or colour shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size: no scratches, cue marks or splices, and the three frames look clean.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the Squirtle animation art fits Pokémon: Pikachu's Vacation.
Era check
Consistent with a late-1990s release print: a 35mm positive with an analogue optical track and Dolby-style data matches a 1999 theatrical release.
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 000071046
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
