Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine at the absolute peak of Pokémania, when the franchise dominated American playgrounds, Saturday mornings, and trading card binders alike. As the second theatrical feature, it leaned on the momentum built by the television series and the first film, with Kids WB serving as the broadcast home that fed the craze week after week. The partnership between the network and the movie's marketing push made trailers like this one a familiar sight to millions of young viewers tuning in for their regular cartoon lineup.
This cell preserves a trailer moment bearing the Kids WB banner, the network bumper that announced promotional content to its built-in audience. Such a card functioned as a handshake between broadcaster and studio, signaling that what followed was sanctioned, timely, and aimed squarely at the Saturday morning crowd. For collectors, these network-branded frames capture a specific marketing era now gone, when a single channel's endorsement could shape a film's opening weekend. It stands as a piece of the promotional apparatus rather than the feature itself, a relic of cross-platform hype from a singular cultural moment.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer for Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three frames, each showing the same picture with only slight motion between them.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shaped and cleanly punched, with no torn or damaged holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the bottom edge, with two tracks and a dashed cue line above; Dolby Digital blocks sit between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue base tint along both edges; the dye image shows natural, saturated colour with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, splices or cue marks seen at this size; the track and picture look clean apart from the camera reflection on one frame.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the 'Kids' WB Presents' card matches a trailer for the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations is consistent with a 2000-era 35mm release print, and the Kids' WB branding fits 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 000071236
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
