MOVIEPokémon: The Movie 2000 Trailer/Pikachu’s Rescue Adventure Clip
SCENEElekid and Bulbasaur
FILM FORMAT35mm
YEAR2000
CERTIFICATE IDNFV-000003523
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. and Nintendo's licensing machine at the height of Pokémania, when the franchise was translating its handheld and television success into a theatrical event for American audiences. As a promotional trailer and clip reel accompanying that release, this 35mm material served the marketing push that kept the brand's momentum alive between Japan's original run and the dubbed, re-scored version shown stateside. These reels circulated through theaters and promotional events, making surviving fragments a tangible record of how the Pokémon boom was sold to a new generation of moviegoers.
This particular cell pairs two early-generation Pokémon familiar from the franchise's first wave: Bulbasaur, one of the original starter trio, and Elekid, an Electric-type prized by collectors for its scarcer appearances in period merchandise and media. Their shared presence here points to the ensemble nature of the film's rescue-adventure sequence, where multiple species appear alongside the main cast. A trailer or clip cell like this one captures a condensed, promotional moment rather than a narrative beat, offering collectors a direct link to the theatrical campaign that introduced Pokémon's first movie era to Western audiences.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm release print or trailer strip from Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm layout with four perforations per frame along both edges; the strip holds three frames, each showing one picture frame between perforation groups.
Perforations
Four per frame on both the top and bottom edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle holes and no visible tears or missing teeth.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track with two tracks runs beside the picture; the data blocks of Dolby Digital are visible in the gaps between the lower perforations, with no DTS or SDDS line seen.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue tinted edge bands with a clear base; the dye image looks saturated and neutral, with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No lines, scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; a single round reflection on the middle frame is the phone camera and is ignored.
Picture
Positive image; the three frames run consecutively as one continuous shot, and the animated Pokémon artwork is consistent with the film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital blocks between perforations on a clear, blue-banded base is consistent with a 2000-era 35mm release print or trailer.
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 000071298
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
