Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters on July 21, 2000, riding the crest of Pokémania's first great American wave. Distributed by Warner Bros. after Nintendo and The Pokémon Company brought the franchise's second animated feature stateside, it followed hot on the heels of 1999's original film and continued the strategy of pairing theatrical releases with a trading card insert and heavy promotional push. Promotional trailers like this one were essential marketing tools, cut to build anticipation ahead of release and often circulated to theaters on 35mm reels before home video made such prints obsolete, making surviving trailer stock a scarce byproduct of that era's distribution chain.
This cell preserves a moment from that promotional reel featuring Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the franchise's central duo and its most recognizable pairing. Ash, the series' perpetual young trainer, and Pikachu, the electric mouse who became Pokémon's defining mascot, anchor nearly every piece of promotional material from this period, which is exactly why collectors seek them out. A trailer cell like this one captures the pair as they were presented to audiences deciding whether to buy a ticket, a small fragment of the advertising campaign that helped carry Pokémon's momentum into its second theatrical outing.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print or trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm layout, four perforations per frame along both edges, with the strip holding three frames shown whole.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, with rounded-rectangle holes that look cleanly punched and uniform.
Soundtrack
Two variable-area optical tracks run beside the picture, with dashed cue-style marks at the outer edge of the track area and no Dolby Digital blocks visible between the perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base with neutral to slightly cool dye image; saturated reds and blues look unfaded.
Projection history
Only a few small specks visible on the picture area; no splices, cue marks or long scratches seen at this size.
Picture
Positive colour image, three consecutive frames of one shot with near-identical content; the Pokémon characters visible fit the film on record.
Era check
Optical stereo tracks on a clear 35mm base are consistent with a 2000-era release print or trailer of 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 000071246
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
