Digimon: The Movie

Angela Anaconda and her friends line up to watch Digimon: The Movie, but Nannette and her friends cut in line and invite Mrs. Brinks to block her view. Angela imagines herself Digivolving[lower-alpha 1] into Angelamon to defeat Mrs. Brinks and Nannette. However, the audience realizes they are in the wrong theater and leave.

A Digi-Egg appears from Tai and Kari's computer, which hatches and Digivolves into Agumon. Tai chases Agumon and Kari out into the night, where a second Digi-Egg appears in the sky to reveal a Parrotmon. As the neighborhood watches, Agumon Digivolves to Greymon to fight but is knocked out. When Tai reawakens Greymon with Kari's whistle, he defeats Parrotmon and disappears with him.

An infected Digi-egg appears on the Internet and hatches into a Digimon that devours computer code. Izzy and Tai are warned by Gennai, and Greymon and Kabuterimon enter the internet but are overwhelmed when it quickly digivolves into Infermon. A boy from Colorado named Willis contacts Izzy and encourages him to find a way to slow Infermon down.[lower-alpha 2] Tai tries to recruit backup, but he only succeeds in enlisting Matt, T.K., and their Digimon. On the second encounter, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon go up against Infermon's final form, Diaboromon. Diaboromon overpowers the DigiDestined when emails flood in from people around the world watching the battle on their computers, causing WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon to slow down. Diaboromon duplicates himself and infects computers at the Pentagon, starting a 10-minute timer that will launch two nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles: one headed for Colorado,[lower-alpha 2] the other for the DigiDestined's neighborhood.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon fight the multitude of Diaboromon but are defeated when the e-mails cause them to lag. Tai and Matt manage to become digital and enter their computers. Through the collective power of the children watching, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are revived and DNA Digivolve into Omnimon. Omnimon destroys the Diaboromon copies, and Izzy redirects the e-mails to the original Diaboromon to freeze him in place long enough for Omnimon to destroy him. The missiles are disabled, but the same virus that created Diaboromon tracks down Willis and corrupts Kokomon.[lower-alpha 2]

While in New York City, T.K. and Kari witness a battle between Willis, Terriermon, and a corrupted Kokomon.[lower-alpha 3] Kokomon insists that Willis "go back", and so Willis returns to Colorado. Kari tips off Davis, Yolei and Cody, who head for Colorado and meet Willis and Terriermon hitch-hiking on the way.

Willis reveals his history with Diaboromon and that the same virus has infected Kokomon.[lower-alpha 2] Willis vows that he must confront Kokomon himself, but is touched by Terriermon's vow of support and Davis' solidarity. In the final battle with Kokomon's Mega form, the DigiDestined are overwhelmed until Kari, T.K., Angemon and Angewomon arrive. Angewomon and Angemon are able to release Golden Digi-Eggs to Davis and Willis, and Veemon and Terriermon Golden Armor Digivolve to Magnamon and Rapidmon. Kokomon de-ages all the DigiDestined, and they realize that "go back" meant to go back in time to when the virus first attacked. The two Golden Digimon allow Kokomon to swallow them, and destroy the virus from within. Kokomon is healed, but fades away. After bidding the DigiDestined farewell, Willis and Terriermon find Kokomon's Digi-egg on a beach.

Toei Animation had animation fairs every spring and summer with featurettes showcasing their current animated titles.[3][9] The first Digimon short film was Digimon Adventure (デジモンアドベンチャー, Dejimon Adobenchā), directed by Mamoru Hosoda in his directorial debut[10] and released on March 6, 1999 for the Toei Animation Spring 1999 Animation Fair. The film grossed ¥650 million .[11]

The second short film, Digimon Adventure: Our War Game![2] was originally released on March 4, 2000 for the Toei Animation Spring 2000 Animation Fair and later served as the inspiration for director Mamoru Hosoda's 2009 film Summer Wars. The film grossed ¥2.166 billion .[12] The film's ending theme song is "'Haru' Ichōchō" (「春」イ長調) by AiM.[13]

Digimon Adventure 02: Part I: Digimon Hurricane Landing!! / Part II: Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (デジモンアドベンチャー02: 前編 デジモンハリケーン上陸！！ / 後編 超絶進化！！ 黄金のデジメンタル, Dejimon Adobenchā Zero Tsū: Zenpen: Dejimon Harikēn Jōriku!! / Kōhen: Chōzetsu Shinka!! Ōgon no Digimentaru) was released on July 8, 2000 for the Toei Animation Summer 2000 Animation Fair. It was directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi. The film was screened in two parts, with Ojamajo Doremi#: The Movie screening in between. The film grossed ¥120 billion . The film's ending theme song is "Stand By Me ~Hitonatsu no Bōken~" (スタンド・バイ・ミー～ひと夏の冒険～, Sutando Bai Mī ~Hitonatsu no Bōken~) by AiM.[14]

A scene from Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! cut from Digimon: The Movie, where Mimi (pictured right) appears and is captured by Wendigomon with the rest of the older DigiDestined.

After the first two Pokémon films, Fox wanted to replicate its success by having a theatrical feature for Digimon as well. The only films produced for Digimon at that time were Digimon Adventure (1999), Digimon Adventure: Our War Game![2] (2000), and Digimon Adventure 02: Part I: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!!/Part II: Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (2000), which were all seasonal featurette films.[3] As the three films were respectively 20, 40, and 60 minutes long, footage was condensed to fit 85 minutes.[3][9] Digimon Adventure was used as basis for the "Eight Years Ago" sequence, Our War Game! in the "Four Years Later" sequence, and Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals in the "Present Day" sequence.[3][15]

The last film included in the compilation, Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals was heavily cut, including a subplot featuring the older DigiDestined being captured and de-aged by Wendigomon, because Saban Entertainment lacked funding to produce a full two-hour movie.[15] Alongside of that, "culturally awkward" Japanese elements are removed, and many North American jokes were written into the script.[16] Prior to the release of Digimon: The Movie, the film led to a dispute between Saban Entertainment and the Screen Actors Guild. The Screen Actors Guild negotiated for actors contracted under them to be paid residuals over home video and subsequent television broadcasts, as they felt Digimon: The Movie was considered an original work due to the dialogue deviating from the original script.[17]

Writer Jeff Nimoy wanted to use the first two films in Digimon: The Movie and release the third film separately as a television movie, but the idea was overruled and Fox insisted on having the third film in order to promote Digimon Adventure 02.[8] In order to connect the stories of the different movies together, Nimoy and Bob Buchholz rewrote Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals to include Willis being involved in Diaboromon's creation.[18][8] Nimoy had been disappointed with this decision, and it was one of the factors that led him and Buchholz into leaving the writing team near the end of Digimon Adventure 02's run in North America.[8] Originally, Nimoy had Tai narrate the movie, but as Tai did not make an appearance in the third part of the movie, he changed it to Kari.[8] An early version of the official website listed Willis' name as his name in the Japanese version, Wallace,[19] until it was changed to "Willis" in the final version.[20] The film's theme song is the "Digi Rap", a remix of the theme song from the English version of Digimon Adventure. The track is performed by Josh Debear under the name "M.C. Pea Pod" and Paul Gordon.[21]

The Angela Anaconda short at the beginning of the film was later re-released as an episode in the television series titled "Good Seats" on January 15, 2001, with all dialogue mentioning Digimon removed.[22]

Taco Bell promoted Digimon: The Movie the summer before the film's release via a summer partnership with the franchise from July 13, 2000 to September 9, 2000. Participating restaurants offered toys and other collectibles with purchase of their kids' meals.[23][24] When the film debuted in domestic theaters, a limited edition "Digi Battle" trading card was given out with every admission, with a total of 12 cards obtainable.

On March 20, 2019, The Walt Disney Company acquired the rights to Digimon: The Movie as part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox (which reunited 20th Century Fox with the Fox Kids/Saban Entertainment library).[25]

Digimon: The Movie opened at #5 in the box office (being shown in 1,825 theaters)[26] and earned $4,233,304 on the opening weekend.[1] The film's run ended on December 3, 2000 at #56 drawing in a weekend gross of $19,665 grossing a total of $9,631,153 domestically.[27] The movie also drew in $1,567,641 in the UK after its release on February 16, 2001 and $2,200,656 in Germany the same year. It earned a total of $16,643,191, making it a minor box office success compared to its budget of $5 million.

The international success of Digimon: The Movie led Toshio Suzuki to contact Mamoru Hosoda to direct Howl's Moving Castle, though he later left the production due to creative differences.[28][29]

The film received generally negative reviews by critics. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 24% of critics have given the movie a positive review based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Digimon is better than Pokemon, but it's still a predictable movie with mediocre animation."[30] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 20 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[31] Lawrence van Gelder of The New York Times describes the film as "noisy and ill-conceived", as it focused too much on "morphing monsters" and too little on "storytelling talent" and animation.[32] Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail gave the film two stars, noting that the "scenes alternate between kitschy cuteness and spectacular violence, with only a nod toward plot, character development, and motivation".[16] Paul Trandahl from Common Sense Media gave the movie three stars, complimenting the film's visuals, but cited criticism in its lack of emotional attachment towards the characters and the plot alienating parents and newcomers.[33]

At the 2000 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film won the award for "Worst Achievement in Animation".[34] However; the magazine Animage conducted a list of the "Top 100" anime productions in January 2001, and Digimon: The Movie placed 88th on list.[35]