Digimon Adventure (film)
A prequel short film launching the Digimon anime series.
Digimon Adventure is a 1999 Japanese animated short film directed by Mamoru Hosoda. It is the first film in the Digimon franchise and serves as a prologue and prequel to the 1999–2000 anime television series of the same name.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Mamoru Hosoda
- Producer
- Hiromi Seki
- Writer
- Reiko Yoshida
- Music
- Takanori Arisawa
- Cinematography
- Shigeru Andô
- Editing
- Yasuhiro Yoshikawa
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Distributor
- Toei
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In the Yagami home, a creature hatches from an egg that came out of a computer screen. Taichi and his sister Hikari care for it, and it changes into a dinosaur-like form that roams Tokyo. Another egg appears in the sky, releasing a bird-like creature. The two monsters fight as Taichi, Hikari, and other kids watch. Cheered on by the children, the dinosaur wins, and both creatures disappear.
Production
Mamoru Hosoda directed Digimon Adventure, with a screenplay by Reiko Yoshida and production by Toei Animation. It is the first of two Digimon films Hosoda directed, followed by Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! (2000). Originally conceived as a standalone project based on the Digital Monster virtual pet, the film used character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru inspired by 1970s comic book artwork. After the manga Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 launched in V Jump in 1998, Toei made its protagonist Taichi Yagami the film's primary character, and the film was re-developed into a prologue for the 1999 television series. Hosoda's original concept—set during the 1964 Summer Olympics and involving Taichi's father and his Digimon partner—was rejected; he was instead instructed to make a kaiju film. To fit the 20-minute runtime, Hosoda and Yoshida focused on the climactic fight. Plot inconsistencies with the TV series were resolved by setting the film several years earlier.
Release
Digimon Adventure premiered in Japanese theaters on March 6, 1999, as part of the Spring 1999 Toei Animation Fair alongside Yu-Gi-Oh! and Doctor Slump: Arale's Surprise Burn. A DVD collecting this film and Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! was released for rental on October 13, 2000, and for purchase on January 21, 2001. In North America, footage from this film was edited with two other Digimon films to create Digimon: The Movie, released on October 6, 2000. Discotek Media announced in July 2023 plans to release both the compiled film and the individual films with new dubs featuring original and new cast members; this release came on December 17, 2024.
Reception
Digimon Adventure, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Doctor Slump: Arale's Surprise Burn collectively grossed an unspecified amount. Producers of Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, released the same day, praised the film and said it inspired them to create entertainments like Digimon Adventure. Crunchyroll called it an "endearing short film" with "admirable" direction and storytelling despite its commercial purpose. Polygon noted it has "heart, and humor" despite being tied to a "Pokémon-like multimedia machine." Otaquest observed that while the film was "made to sell toys and games," Hosoda demonstrated his aptitudes for resonance and charismatic visual storytelling.
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