National Film Vault

OFFICIAL FILM AUTHENTICATION BY CROWN GRADING

AUTHENTIC

CROWN CERTIFIED

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MOVIEPokémon 3: The Movie Trailer/Pikachu & Pichu Short Trailer

SCENEPikachu

FILM FORMAT35mm

YEAR2001

CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003382

FILM NOTES

Pokémon 3: The Movie arrived in 2001 as the third theatrical feature built from the Pokémon anime, distributed in the US by Warner Bros. and preceded in Japanese and American release by a short, Pikachu and Pichu, which played ahead of the main feature in the tradition established by the earlier films' companion shorts. The franchise was then at its commercial peak, with Pokémania still driving toy, card, and box office sales worldwide. Trailer and short material from this period circulated through theater chains on 35mm reels, making surviving promotional footage a tangible link to how audiences first encountered these releases, well before home video and digital formats took over distribution entirely.

This cell comes from that promotional reel, a strip built for the big screen rather than the feature itself, and it carries Pikachu, the franchise's central and most recognizable figure. A trailer cell like this one exists to announce rather than narrate, a single held fragment meant to draw an audience into the theater rather than advance the story proper. For collectors, Pikachu material from this exact promotional window holds particular weight, tied directly to the character's commercial high point and to the short-film tradition that made this era of Pokémon theatrical releases distinct.

Authentication Findings 8 checks

Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer for Pokémon 3: The Movie (2001).

Gauge: 35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations: Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, cleanly punched with no tears or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack: A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the perforations on one edge, and a speckled grey pattern sits in the gaps between the perforations on the other edge; no other track visible.
Edge print: Only a faint numeral reading as '57', backwards, along the lower edge; no manufacturer text or 'SAFETY FILM' wording is legible in this capture.
Base & colour: Clear base with a pale blue-teal tint along the edges and a neutral black frame divider; the dye image looks saturated with no visible fading.
Projection history: None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible on the three frames.
Picture: Positive colour image, three consecutive near-identical frames from one shot, and the animated character is consistent with a Pokémon title as on record.
Era check: Consistent with a 2001 35mm release print: variable-area optical track plus the speckled Dolby Digital-style data pattern between perforations suits a trailer of that period.

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 000071157

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