Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Kids' WB, riding the first wave of Pokémania as the franchise's sophomore theatrical release in North America. Built around the legend of the three bird deities and the Orb needed to restore balance, it followed the original film's blockbuster success and cemented Pokémon as a theatrical force beyond the television series. Promotional material from this era, including trailers, circulated widely to stoke anticipation among a fanbase still hungry for new adventures with Ash and company.
This cell comes from that trailer, a promotional strip meant to tease the feature rather than preserve a finished scene, which gives it a distinct place in collecting circles separate from the film print itself. Ash Ketchum, the series' constant protagonist, holding the Orb points directly to the quest at the heart of the story, the item central to averting disaster and uniting the legendary birds. For collectors, Ash remains the character most sought after, and a trailer cell tying him to the film's key artifact marks an early, promotional glimpse of the plot's central object.
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, and the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes that look evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two wavy white-on-dark tracks, plus a dashed line above them; the gaps between the lower perforations hold a speckled square pattern consistent with Dolby Digital data blocks.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base shows a pale blue tint along the edges, and the dye image looks saturated in purples, blues and oranges with no obvious fading or warm shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; the frames look clean, with no scratches, cue marks or splices visible.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and nothing in them contradicts the film on record, an animated trailer.
Era check
The optical track combined with Dolby Digital blocks is consistent with a release print from around 2000, matching the 2000 trailer 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 000071260
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
