Released in the summer of 2000, Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived at the height of the franchise's first great wave of American popularity, distributed theatrically on the strength of a phenomenon that had already conquered television, trading cards, and handheld gaming. Warner Bros. handled the domestic release, and Kids WB served as the broadcast partner that had introduced the series to American audiences in the first place. Trailers for the film circulated widely through Saturday morning programming blocks, making this a key promotional artifact of that cross-platform marketing push.
This cell preserves a Kids WB network bumper leading into the theatrical trailer itself, the kind of branded announcement frame that signaled to young viewers a major event was imminent. These network-identifier cells are modest but historically telling; they mark the exact channel and moment through which millions of American kids first encountered news of the film. For collectors assembling a complete picture of Pokémon's early merchandising and broadcast history, a piece carrying the Kids WB imprint represents the delivery system itself, the gateway rather than the content, and holds its own niche appeal.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release trailer print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame on both edges, and the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame along both edges, evenly spaced, with clean rounded-rectangle punches and no torn or missing holes seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture as two or three white waveform lines; Dolby Digital blocks, DTS timecode and SDDS tracks are not visible in this capture.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear base with a pale blue-grey tint along the edges; the dye image looks vivid and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
None seen at this size; no scratches, cue marks or splices are visible, apart from the camera reflection on the right frame, which is ignored.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames run consecutively as one shot, and the Kids' WB 'Presents' logo card fits a Pokémon 2000 trailer.
Era check
The optical track and standard 35mm release stock are consistent with a 2000-era trailer print, and the Kids' WB logo fits the period.
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 000071287
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
