National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING

AUTHENTIC

CROWN CERTIFIED

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MOVIEPokémon 3: The Movie Trailer

SCENEAsh and Charizard Flying/Cyndaquil Creates A Way In

FILM FORMAT35mm

YEAR2001

CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003351

FILM NOTES

Pokémon 3: The Movie arrived in 2001 from Warner Bros., the third theatrical outing built on the anime's early momentum and the franchise's peak cultural saturation in the West. Produced alongside Nintendo and OLM, it followed the established pattern of pairing a standalone adventure with trailer reels distributed ahead of release to build anticipation among young audiences and collectors alike. These promotional strips circulated through theaters and were often cut into smaller segments, making surviving trailer cells a distinct category from film-print cells proper, valued for capturing the marketing apparatus of the era as much as the story itself.

This piece draws together Ash Ketchum, his Charizard, and Cyndaquil, three figures central to the franchise's appeal during this period. Charizard's presence alongside Ash reflects one of the most recognizable partnerships in the series, a draw for collectors tracking that specific pairing across media. Cyndaquil's role here, creating a way in, points to a moment of problem-solving or passage within the trailer's assembled footage. As a trailer cell rather than a scene from the finished feature, it represents the promotional cut used to entice audiences, a format prized for its scarcity and its glimpse into how the film was first presented to the public.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm 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 side to side across the panel.
Perforations: Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes that look evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack: A two-track variable-area optical track runs beside the picture; Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations, a DTS timecode line and SDDS tracks are not visible in this capture.
Edge print: A small purple dot and a short code reading backwards, roughly "00-OD", sits near the lower edge; no manufacturer name or "SAFETY FILM" text is legible in this capture.
Base & colour: Pale cyan-blue tint on the edge margins, with saturated, balanced dye colours in the picture and no visible red shift or fading.
Projection history: No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the frames look clean, with only the curl of the strip visible.
Picture: Positive image. The first two frames are identical, a repeated frame, and the third shows a different shot. The animated style and characters match the Pokémon 3 trailer on record.
Era check: Consistent: the two-track optical analogue soundtrack and the colour-positive print on a 35mm base fit an early-2000s theatrical trailer print of this film.

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 000071126

Original Film Capture As received

The film strip as photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation

Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size