Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's partnership with 4Kids Entertainment, riding the first great wave of Pokémania in the West. As a direct follow-up to the record-breaking original film, it carried enormous commercial weight, and its promotional trailer reels were distributed widely to theater chains to build anticipation. These preview strips, often cut into standalone cells for archival purposes, capture a moment when the franchise was still introducing its mythology to a mainstream audience hungry for new legendary creatures and new adventures for its young hero.
This cell preserves a piece of that promotional reel, centered on Zapdos, one of the three legendary birds whose scarcity in the games and anime made it a draw for collectors seeking tie-ins to the franchise's early mythic arc. Ash Ketchum's presence anchors the moment in the human perspective central to the series, a trainer witnessing power beyond his own. As a trailer fragment, this cell represents the marketing machinery built to sell wonder itself, a single strike meant to electrify audiences before the main feature ever rolled.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, with three frames showing on this strip.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, cleanly punched with no tears or missing perforations in view.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track of two tracks runs beside the picture, and Dolby Digital data blocks sit in the gaps between the lower-edge perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base at the edges, with neutral clear film between frames; the dye image looks saturated, with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the animated artwork is plausible for a Pokémon trailer.
Era check
Dolby Digital data blocks plus an optical analogue track fit a release print from around 2000, so the strip 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 000071244
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
