Sources: Wikidata. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Pokémon: The Movie 2000 arrived from Warner Bros. and Nintendo at the height of Pokémania, following the franchise's blockbuster theatrical debut the prior year. Built around the Legendary Birds and Lugia, it pulled young audiences back into theaters in droves and stands as a cornerstone release from the series' peak commercial moment, when Pokémon merchandise and film tie-ins dominated the cultural landscape. For collectors of animation and licensed-property cinema from this period, the film represents a snapshot of a franchise at full strength.
This cell draws its interest from the pairing named in its description: Ash and Melody, set among the film's recurring cast of Misty, Maren, and Togepi. Melody's presence places this moment within the story's Shamouti Island arc, where she plays a guiding role alongside Ash. Cells featuring named character interactions like this one are prized for isolating a specific narrative beat from the larger sequence of hand-inked frames that made up traditional animation production, offering collectors a tangible fragment of the story's human relationships rather than a generic promotional image.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital release print of Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
Gauge
35mm: four perforations per frame along both edges, and the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced and cleanly punched with rounded-rectangle shapes; none look torn or missing.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the bottom, and a Dolby Digital data pattern sits in the gaps between the lower perforations.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture
Base & colour
Light blue-tinted clear base at the edges; the dye image looks neutral and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
No scratches, cue marks or splices seen at this size; the dark oval on the middle frame is a camera reflection and is ignored.
Picture
Positive colour image, three consecutive frames of one shot, in a cartoon style consistent with the animated film on record.
Era check
Optical track plus Dolby Digital data between the perforations on a 35mm base is consistent with a release print from around 2000.
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 000071336
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
