What do you get when you mix a lightning quick plot, a horrible artist and a so-so musician? You get Digimon
Adventure: The Movie. This movie takes place four years prior to the events of the Digimon Adventure TV series
(a.k.a. Digimon 01) and serves as a way for the creators to describe in detail how eight children were chosen to be
the “digidestined” in the series.
The first thing one will notice is just how quickly the story moves. Because the movie moves very quickly, little to no
time is allowed for character development. Due to the poor development and rapid pacing of this movie, the main characters
get very little chance to flesh themselves out and move away from being one-dimensional.
Not only was the art inferior to that found in Digimon 01, but the proportioning for the digimon character designs
were atrocious. I mean, come on! In the series, Agumon was not that huge in comparison to the objects around him and the
children. Not only was the art inferior, but the music wasn't any better. The music did not help with the atmosphere as
all, making for a dull experience.
Overall, Digimon Adventure: The Movie was created with good intentions for fans of the series, but falls short of
attaining its goals. If the budget set by Toei Animation was a bit more favorable for the movie, perhaps it would have
been much more enjoyable and entertaining. Sadly, such circumstances did not seem to have been available to Toei at the
time of production or they just didn’t want to place very much effort in this movie. I can only, in good heart,
recommend this movie to old, diehard fans of the series.
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Digimon Adventure: The Movie is certainly an interesting piece, especially since it enjoyed a theatrical release despite having a running length of only 20 minutes. This brevity is a double edged sword, for it eliminates any possibility of a sub-surface plot or in-depth characterization. However, thanks to some very slick animation, a unique art style, and the fact that it’s too short to grind on the viewer, Digimon Adventure: The Movie is something that actually has some replay value.
To get the most out of Digimon Adventure: The Movie, one cannot view this piece as a standalone film, and really, this film never tries to be a standalone piece. The plot never delves past the specific event mentioned in the Digimon Adventure TV series. In fact, there’s really none of the commentary or hindsight that usually accompanies a flashback. Instead, Digimon Adventure: The Movie merely presents the events to supplement the series, and allows the viewer to come up with any deeper interpretation. As such, the plot is rather limited and shallow, essentially following dramatic structure without an extensively complicated rising action or dénouement. Likewise, characterization does not deviate far from what the series had already established, with Taichi and Hikari’s parents (who didn’t get much screen time in the series) a notable exception.
The art style employed deviates drastically from that of the series, but this is by no means a bad thing. The more subtle, less defined, and less technological (in style, not production) style of the movie is excellent, despite some serious proportional issues. The OST (if you can even call it that) employs only two tracks from completely opposite ends of the musical spectrum: Ravel’s Bolero and Kouji Wada’s Butter-fly. Both are utterly gorgeous as stand-alone tracks, and the usage of Bolero just enhances to some particularly whimsical and carefree scenes involving Hikari and the egg. Yet, it is incredibly difficult to deem anything that only uses one track as BGM higher than average, particularly since the piece is used repeatedly throughout the 20 minute runtime.
Despite having a skeletal plot and no real characterization, Digimon Adventure: The Movie is not unbearable. Certainly, it’s nothing to be lauded or recommended, but it’s not something to be vilified either. It’s only 20 minutes, and most of those 20 minutes consist of two children playing. What cruel, heartless evil person could be driven insane by that?
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