The Powerpuff Girls Movie arrived in 2002 from Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network Studios, expanding Craig McCracken's hit series into a feature origin story. It traced how Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup came to be, from their creation in Professor Utonium's lab to their rise as Townsville's protectors. The film carried the show's sugar, spice, and everything nice premise to theaters, reinforcing the trio's place as early 2000s animation icons. A promotional trailer for the release circulated in 35mm, giving collectors physical artifacts tied to the film's theatrical rollout.
This cell preserves a moment from that trailer featuring Blossom and Bubbles, two of the three title characters whose popularity drove the franchise's merchandising and lasting fan base. Blossom, the self-appointed leader, and Bubbles, the gentlest of the trio, anchor much of the series' emotional range, making their joint appearance a draw for collectors who favor character pairings over solo shots. As a trailer cell rather than a frame from the finished film, it represents the marketing campaign itself, a physical trace of how audiences were introduced to the Girls before the movie reached theaters.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of The Powerpuff Girls Movie trailer (2002).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three full frames plus a partial frame at the left edge.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform along the whole strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, and the small noise-patterned blocks between the lower perforations look like Dolby Digital data.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue clear base with the dye image looking saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or colour shift at this size.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size, with only a small speck or two on the base.
Picture
Positive image, the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the Powerpuff Girls characters and heart pattern match the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a 35mm positive print is consistent with a 2002 theatrical release print of a Powerpuff Girls Movie 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 000071094
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
