MOVIEPokémon 3: The Movie Trailer/Pikachu & Pichu Short Trailer
SCENEPikachu & Pichu - Title Card
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2001
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003369
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Released in 2001 by Warner Bros. in North America under license from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon 3: The Movie arrived as the third theatrical entry in the franchise's early run, following the box office success of the first two films. It was paired with the short "Pikachu & Pichu," one of several Pikachu-led shorts produced to accompany the features, offering audiences a lighter, dialogue-light companion piece ahead of the main program. These pairings were central to how Pokémon built its theatrical identity in the United States during the height of the franchise's first wave of popularity, with trailers and shorts circulating widely on promotional 35mm reels.
This cell comes from the title card for that short, naming Pikachu alongside Big Pichu and Little Pichu, the two Pichu who anchor the short's own small story apart from the main feature. Pikachu remains the franchise's defining figure and its most collected image across any format, while the Pichu pairing marks this short specifically, distinguishing it from other Pikachu vehicles of the era. A title card cell preserves the moment a reel announces itself, the point where projectionists and audiences alike knew which program was beginning, making it a marker of sequence and identity within the reel rather than a narrative frame from the story itself.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Fujicolor release print of the Pokémon 3 / Pikachu & Pichu trailer.
Gauge
35mm, with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three frames, each shown with a narrow vertical picture area between black bands.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched with no visible tearing or damage.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the lower edge beside the picture, shown as dual wavy bands; no Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode or SDDS are visible between or outside the perforations.
Edge print
Mirrored "FUJICOLOR" is legible along the lower edge; no key numbers or other codes are legible at this size.
Base & colour
Light cyan-blue base tint at the edges, with a neutral grey perforation margin; the dye image looks saturated and unfaded.
Projection history
Fine hairline scratches and small white specks show across the picture, heaviest on the right frame, which is consistent with a projected print.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the "Pikachu & Pichu" title text in the picture matches the film on record.
Era check
Fujicolor stock, optical sound and the Pikachu & Pichu title are consistent with a 2001 35mm release print of the Pokémon 3 short 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 000071144
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
