Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived at the height of Pokémania, when Warner Bros. and Nintendo's franchise dominated American pop culture following the 1999 theatrical debut of the first film. This trailer promoted the sequel's summer release, built to keep the momentum going with young audiences and collectors of trading cards, toys, and VHS alike. The era was defined by oversaturation and devotion in equal measure, and promotional material from this window remains a touchstone for anyone tracking the franchise's theatrical rollout in North America.
This cell carries Pikachu alongside the "In Theaters Everywhere" announcement, the kind of trailer strip built to signal nationwide release rather than tell story. Pikachu remains the franchise's defining face, the character collectors return to above all others, and pairing it with wide-release language marks this as a piece of pure marketing ephemera rather than narrative footage. For collectors, that combination of mascot and release phrase is exactly what makes trailer and title card material desirable: it documents the promotional push itself, a tangible fragment of how the film was sold to a waiting audience.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print of the Pokémon: The Movie 2000 trailer.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds roughly two frames, with a third cut at the strip end.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, rounded-rectangle punches, evenly spaced and cleanly cut, with no torn or missing perforations seen.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs beside the picture, with Dolby Digital data blocks visible in the gaps between the perforations on the soundtrack edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Clear, slightly cool blue-tinted base; the dye image shows saturated yellows and reds with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the edges look clean.
Picture
Positive image; the two frames sit side by side with the same Pikachu image, and the printed text 'In theaters everywhere' and 'July 21' with studio logos fits a trailer for the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks on a positive print is consistent with a 2000 theatrical release print, and the July 21 date card matches 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 000071289
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
