MOVIEPokémon 3: The Movie Trailer Pikachu Pichu Short Trailer
SCENECleffa, Igglybuff, Smoochum and Furret
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2001
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003376
FILM NOTES
Released in 2001 as the theatrical trailer package preceding Pokémon 3: The Movie, this strip represents the marketing arm of the franchise at its theatrical peak, when Pikachu Pichu shorts and feature trailers were distributed on 35mm to exhibitors ahead of general release. Warner Bros. handled the North American rollout during the height of Pokémania, and surviving trailer and short reels from this period are scarcer than the features themselves, since they circulated in smaller print runs and were often discarded after their promotional run ended. For collectors, these fragments document how Pokémon was sold to audiences rather than how it was watched.
This cell preserves a moment from the Pikachu & Pichu short, gathering Cleffa, Igglybuff, Smoochum, and Furret together on film. These are baby and early-evolution Pokémon rarely given screen time in the main features, making their appearance here notable to collectors who track species representation across the franchise's visual history. A grouping of four distinct characters in a single cell suggests an ensemble beat within the short, the kind of gentle, low-stakes interlude the Pikachu shorts were built around. As a trailer-era artifact, it captures promotional material rather than feature narrative, a distinction collectors value highly.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon 3: The Movie Trailer/Pikachu & Pichu Short Trailer (2001).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, lying sideways on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no visible tears or missing holes along the strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two parallel tracks, with a Dolby Digital data pattern visible in the grey blocks between the lower perforations.
Edge print
A small code reading "00-0D" with a purple dot is visible along the lower edge, printed in reversed text; no other manufacturer text or key numbers are legible.
Base & colour
The base has a pale cyan-blue tint at the edges with a clear to slightly cool cast, and the dye image looks saturated with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the only marks are glossy reflections from the phone and light panel.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the cartoon style is consistent with the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
The optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks and the cyan-tinted base are consistent with an early-2000s 35mm release print, matching a 2001 Pokémon 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 000071151
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
