Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine at the peak of Pokémania, when the franchise's leap from Game Boy to television to the multiplex felt inevitable. As the second theatrical feature, it carried the weight of proving the anime could sustain a film franchise beyond its debut, and trailers like this one were the advance guard, sent to multiplexes and television spots to keep the fever pitch alive among young collectors and their families before the film itself ever screened.
This cell preserves a promotional fragment built around Pikachu in motion alongside Misty and Melody, with Togepi rounding out the group. Misty remains one of the original trio from the series' earliest episodes, a figure prized by longtime collectors for her tenure through the franchise's formative run. Melody's presence ties this directly to The Movie 2000's specific story. As a trailer cell, this piece belongs to the marketing apparatus itself, a physical artifact of anticipation rather than narrative, capturing the characters as they were presented to draw audiences in before the feature's release.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, with three frames visible on the strip, two near-identical and one different.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no tears or distortion visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture with two parallel bands, plus a dashed line above it; Dolby Digital data blocks are visible between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue-tinted edge margin; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; a few faint dust specks on the frames.
Picture
Positive image; the first two frames show the same shot and the third is a different shot. Characters and style match the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent with a 2000-era 35mm release print, since the strip carries an optical track alongside Dolby Digital data blocks and a positive colour image.
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 000071257
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
