Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros., riding the first great wave of American Pokémania. Released in the summer of 2000 as a direct follow-up to the franchise's debut film, it paired Ash Ketchum's animated adventures with a now-legendary promotional push, including trading card inserts and tie-in merchandise that made the release an event as much as a movie. For a generation of young collectors, this picture represents the peak of Pokémon's crossover into mainstream American pop culture, a moment when the franchise's marketing muscle matched its creative ambitions.
This piece comes from the film's trailer, the promotional reel built to stir anticipation ahead of release, and centers on Lawrence III, the collector-antagonist whose obsession with capturing the Legendary Birds drives the story's central conflict. His flying palace, an airborne fortress built for pursuit and acquisition, stands as one of the film's signature set pieces, a visual shorthand for the character's ambition and wealth. For collectors of Pokémon ephemera, trailer material naming Lawrence III holds particular interest, since his presence in promotional cuts marks early efforts to tease the antagonist's role before audiences had seen the finished film.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (2000).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three complete frames running side by side.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or stretched holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs between the picture and the lower perforations, with a dashed timing line above it; the data patches between the lower perforations look like Dolby Digital blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear to light blue-tinted base at the edges; the dye image shows saturated purples and blues with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the anime-style artwork is plausible for the film on record, though nothing in the frames names it.
Era check
The optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks fit a late-1990s to 2000 35mm release print or trailer, so the stock is consistent with the film on record.
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 000071222
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
