Pokémon 3: The Movie was released in 2001 by Warner Bros. and 4Kids Entertainment, the third theatrical entry built from the Pokémon anime and part of the franchise's early run of North American box office success. Promotional material for the film circulated widely through theaters and television spots, with trailer reels cut specifically to tease the feature without revealing its full plot. These trailer cells are a distinct piece of the era's marketing history, produced and distributed separately from the finished movie prints.
This cell comes from that promotional reel and centers on Cyndaquil, the Fire-type starter introduced in the Johto region and a favorite among collectors for its design and its recurring role as one of Ash's companions during this period. The phrase "Creates A Way In" points to a moment of action used to build anticipation ahead of the film's release, the kind of beat trailers rely on to suggest capability and forward motion without giving away story context. As a piece of trailer ephemera, it preserves a fragment of how the movie was first introduced to audiences.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Fujicolor release trailer print of Pokémon 3: The Movie (2001).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, with the picture area running between the perforation rows.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform along the whole strip.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, and the gaps between the lower perforations carry grey speckled Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Along the lower edge the text reads "FUJICOLOR" (backwards) and a code "CL"; no key numbers or other codes are legible.
Base & colour
The base shows a pale cyan-teal tint at the edges, and the dye image looks vivid and saturated, with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen in this capture; the picture and track look clean.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated style is plausible for an anime trailer like the film on record.
Era check
Consistent: a Fujicolor print with an analogue optical track plus Dolby Digital data blocks suits a 2001 35mm theatrical trailer print.
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 000071112
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
