Released in the summer of 2000, Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived as Warner Bros. and Nintendo capitalized on the franchise's peak theatrical momentum, following the original film's surprise box office success. Marketed heavily through Kids' WB and theatrical trailers that circulated widely ahead of release, this second feature expanded the series' mythology with Legendary birds and a broader cast of creatures, cementing Pokémon's place as a cinema event rather than a television spinoff. Trailers from this period were struck onto 35mm alongside the feature prints themselves, making surviving trailer cells a distinct and separate category from movie frame collectibles.
This cell draws together Zapdos, one of the three Legendary birds whose rarity and electric design make it a perennial collector favorite, alongside Scyther, Venonat, and Marill, three fan recognizable species from the franchise's original roster. As a trailer cell, it represents the promotional apparatus built to entice audiences before the feature itself, a teaser assembling multiple creatures to signal scale and variety. For collectors, the pairing of a Legendary with established early generation Pokémon reflects exactly the kind of cross section trailers were built to show off.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release-print trailer strip of Pokémon: The Movie 2000 (1999).
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds about three frames, the last one partly cut off at the right end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched, with no tears or missing perforations.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two dark-and-white waveform lines runs beside the picture, with a dashed, dotted line above it; no Dolby Digital blocks are visible between the perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
The base is clear with a pale blue tint along the edges; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size beyond a camera-reflection ring on the third frame, which is ignored; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible.
Picture
Positive colour image; the first two frames repeat the same cartoon lightning-burst shot, the third is a different animated scene, and the style fits the animated film on record.
Era check
The optical track and the Dolby-style blocks between the perforations point to a late-1990s release print, which fits a 1999 trailer.
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 000071261
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
