Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's booming multimedia partnership, riding the crest of Pokémania's first great wave in the West. As the second theatrical feature following the franchise's explosive 1999 debut, it was positioned to prove that Pokémon could sustain a movie franchise beyond a one-off event, backed by heavy promotional rollout, toy tie-ins, and trailer prints circulated to theaters nationwide. For collectors of early franchise ephemera, this period represents peak cultural saturation, when Pikachu's image was essentially inescapable in American media and merchandising.
This cell comes from the promotional trailer itself, a strip meant to build anticipation ahead of release rather than capture a scene from the finished film. Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the franchise's central duo, anchor the piece, representing the partnership at the heart of every Pokémon story. Trailer cells like this one hold particular interest for collectors because they predate the feature's final cut and circulated only briefly, tied to a narrow theatrical window. Owning a fragment of that promotional reel preserves a moment of pure buildup, the industry's effort to translate a global phenomenon onto the big screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three full frames, shown with the image turned sideways on the panel.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged edges seen at this size.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along one edge, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the perforations on the opposite side. No DTS or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue edge tint and a neutral, saturated dye image; the black frame lines are dense and no fading or red shift is evident.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond a round halo on the right frames, which is the phone camera reflected in the base.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames are near-identical and run consecutively as one shot, matching the animated, Pokémon-style artwork of the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a positive print is consistent with a release print or trailer from around 2000, when that combination was standard.
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 000071219
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
