Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters as Warner Bros. and Nintendo capitalized on the franchise's explosive American popularity, following the original Pokémon: The First Movie into wide release. Promotional trailers for the film circulated through theaters and television in early 2000, building anticipation with glimpses of the Legendary Bird Pokémon and the quest at the story's center. These promotional reels are collected today as artifacts of that peak Pokémania moment, when trailer prints themselves became sought-after ephemera from a cultural phenomenon still gathering steam.
This cell draws from that trailer footage and centers on Ash Ketchum and Pikachu, the inseparable pair at the heart of the franchise, pursuing what the film calls the orb, an object tied to the central conflict Ash must resolve. As trailer material, this frame belongs to the promotional apparatus built to sell the film's stakes before release, offering audiences an early look at the adventure rather than a scene from the finished narrative proper. Collectors prize Ash and Pikachu material from this exact window for its connection to the franchise's theatrical breakthrough.
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 frames in this capture.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle holes, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with no tears or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along one edge; Dolby Digital data blocks sit between the perforations on that same edge, giving an analogue and digital print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted base along the borders; the dye image looks neutral and saturated, with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, splices, cue marks or dirt lines are visible across the three frames.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one near-identical shot, and the animated Pokémon characters are consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations is consistent with a 2000 35mm release print, and the animation fits a Pokémon trailer of that year.
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 000071279
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
