Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived at the height of Pokémania, a Warner Bros. release built on 4Kids' dub of the Japanese animated feature and timed to keep the franchise's theatrical momentum alive after the first film's surprise success. Promoted heavily through television spots and theatrical trailers, it introduced American audiences to the legendary bird Lugia well before the movie's wide release, making the advance marketing materials a notable piece of franchise history in their own right.
This cell comes from that promotional reel, a trailer frame built around Lugia, the guardian legendary at the heart of the film's plot. As one of the series' most sought after Pokémon, Lugia's presence here carries weight for collectors tracking early franchise promotional ephemera. A trailer cell like this exists to introduce or tease, offered to audiences ahead of the feature to establish anticipation for the character's role in the story. Owning a piece of that introduction ties directly to the character's enduring standing within Pokémon collecting circles.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000, with Dolby Digital and optical sound.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames, with a fourth edge-cut frame not visible.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape and cleanly punched, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A two-track variable-area optical track 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
Neutral to slightly cool clear base, with a pale blue tint along the edges; the dye image looks saturated, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices or cue marks are visible on the frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames repeat one near-identical shot consecutively, and the animated imagery fits the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
Consistent: an optical track with Dolby Digital data blocks and neutral base fits a 2000-era 35mm release trailer print.
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 000071270
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
