Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived at the height of Pokémania, when Warner Bros. and Nintendo pushed the franchise's theatrical ambitions into American multiplexes on the heels of the first film's surprise success. Promotional trailer prints like this one circulated to theaters ahead of release, built to stoke anticipation among a fanbase still riding the initial wave of cards, games, and Saturday morning television. These reels are scarce survivors of a marketing apparatus rarely preserved intact, making them a distinct category from the feature prints themselves.
This cell draws from that trailer reel and centers on Pikachu, the character most responsible for carrying the franchise into mainstream consciousness. Its presence here situates the cell squarely within the promotional push designed to put the character front and center for audiences deciding whether to buy a ticket. For collectors, a trailer cell holds appeal precisely because it belongs to the advertisement rather than the film proper, a fragment of how the movie was sold rather than how it was told.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000, with optical and Dolby Digital sound.
Gauge
Four perforations per frame on both edges, 35mm layout; the strip holds three full frames, shown with the long side of the strip running left to right.
Perforations
Four perforations per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, rounded-rectangle shape, cleanly punched with no tears or missing holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the perforations on the opposite edge; no DTS or SDDS seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Pale blue-tinted base at the edges; the dye image looks neutral to slightly warm, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; the only marks are phone-camera reflections on the base, which are ignored.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the cartoon yellow character matches the Pokémon film on record.
Era check
A variable-area optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks between the perforations is consistent with a 2000-era 35mm release trailer print 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 000071277
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
