I never saw Digimon The Movie as a teen (I was only able to see Pokémon 2000: The Movie), and now, seeing this film, I think it is good, but it does have a few issues that keep it from being as good as the second Pokémon film.
So, basically, this film is actually three films edited into one film, using the first three Digimon movies (as each movie had a varied length in its original Japanese form). But before we see the Digi-Action, we have to sit through a four minute Angela Anaconda short themed around Angela trying to see the Digimon movie. Basically put in because the series is one of Fox Kids' ratings hits back then, this is basically boring and a waste of four minutes, as other Angela "digivolving" into a giant Tai-inspired heroine, it has mostly nothing to do with Digimon, and was thrown together so the film can have a short in the vein of the Pikachu shorts that the Pokémon movies have before the main movie.
After that, we get the movie, and it begins with a generic opening credits sequence accompanied by what is called the Digi Rap, a horrible rap whose lyrics are mostly Digi puns (with MC Peapod singing it as well as the pun popping up on screen as he says it) while also adding in the theme song we hear on Fox Kids six days a week at the time. I found it annoying and makes me wish they just either added the theme song as it was on TV or made a theatrical version like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie did for the theme song to the show it was based on.
So, after that, the movie really begins. With Kari as narrator, she goes through the three stories: the first being set eight years before the events of season two, which is set as a prequel to the first season, the second story, which is called Our War Games in Japan, is set in between seasons one and two and fleshes out elements that would appear in season two (as the movies are canon to the anime), and the third and final film, called Hurricane Touchdown in Japan, which is set during the second season.
Yeah, the stories are good, however, the film basically alters the events of each film for time and budget reasons. Also, the movie makes it where the events of the first two movies are tied to the third film, as it makes it where Willis (the Digi-Destined who appears in the third movie) was re-written to be the one responsible for creating Diaboromon (the original Japanese dub has Diaboromon's origin being computer viruses infecting a Digi-Egg). Also, the movie does edits to remove anything related to Japan while adding new lines (oolong tea becomes beef jerky shakes, and young Tai getting a call from Sora, which was never in the Japanese version) and real world references are added (like Kari mentioning Power Rangers). Yeah, this results in some cheesy dialogue and corny jokes that kids may find funny, but older fans will groan at.
The third and final movie is really edited, The original version had a plot where the older Digi-Destined were kidnapped and de-aged, which was cut here to keep the movie short, as Saban was unable to get this to be a two hour film. However, it is still good, as it explains a lot of things (the events of the first movie were mentioned in season one, where the battle between Red Greymon and Parrotmon was said to be a terrorist attack, and events of the second movie would be referenced in season two). It is a good movie, despite the Angela Anaconda short, horrid rap song, and the corny jokes.
So, basically, this film is actually three films edited into one film, using the first three Digimon movies (as each movie had a varied length in its original Japanese form). But before we see the Digi-Action, we have to sit through a four minute Angela Anaconda short themed around Angela trying to see the Digimon movie. Basically put in because the series is one of Fox Kids' ratings hits back then, this is basically boring and a waste of four minutes, as other Angela "digivolving" into a giant Tai-inspired heroine, it has mostly nothing to do with Digimon, and was thrown together so the film can have a short in the vein of the Pikachu shorts that the Pokémon movies have before the main movie.
After that, we get the movie, and it begins with a generic opening credits sequence accompanied by what is called the Digi Rap, a horrible rap whose lyrics are mostly Digi puns (with MC Peapod singing it as well as the pun popping up on screen as he says it) while also adding in the theme song we hear on Fox Kids six days a week at the time. I found it annoying and makes me wish they just either added the theme song as it was on TV or made a theatrical version like Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie did for the theme song to the show it was based on.
So, after that, the movie really begins. With Kari as narrator, she goes through the three stories: the first being set eight years before the events of season two, which is set as a prequel to the first season, the second story, which is called Our War Games in Japan, is set in between seasons one and two and fleshes out elements that would appear in season two (as the movies are canon to the anime), and the third and final film, called Hurricane Touchdown in Japan, which is set during the second season.
Yeah, the stories are good, however, the film basically alters the events of each film for time and budget reasons. Also, the movie makes it where the events of the first two movies are tied to the third film, as it makes it where Willis (the Digi-Destined who appears in the third movie) was re-written to be the one responsible for creating Diaboromon (the original Japanese dub has Diaboromon's origin being computer viruses infecting a Digi-Egg). Also, the movie does edits to remove anything related to Japan while adding new lines (oolong tea becomes beef jerky shakes, and young Tai getting a call from Sora, which was never in the Japanese version) and real world references are added (like Kari mentioning Power Rangers). Yeah, this results in some cheesy dialogue and corny jokes that kids may find funny, but older fans will groan at.
The third and final movie is really edited, The original version had a plot where the older Digi-Destined were kidnapped and de-aged, which was cut here to keep the movie short, as Saban was unable to get this to be a two hour film. However, it is still good, as it explains a lot of things (the events of the first movie were mentioned in season one, where the battle between Red Greymon and Parrotmon was said to be a terrorist attack, and events of the second movie would be referenced in season two). It is a good movie, despite the Angela Anaconda short, horrid rap song, and the corny jokes.