List of Digimon films

To date, a total of fourteen original Japanese films (twelve theatrical, two OVA) and six American films (Including the compilation film Digimon: The Movie) have been released in the Digimon franchise, one of which (Digital Monster X-Evolution) was first broadcast on television, animated completely in CGI, and was not related to any other season of the television series.

The eleven other original films are short and primarily hand-drawn. The two short films (OVAs) animated completely in CGI have never been screened outside Japan. The fourteenth original film overall, Confession, was released on September 24th 2016.^[1][2] The Fifteenth film, Loss will be released in February 2017.

Digimon Adventure / Adventure 02 / Adventure tri. film arc

Digimon Adventure

Digimon Adventure is the first Digimon Adventure film. It was released in Japan on March 6, 1999.^[3] It was released in the United States on October 6, 2000 as the first part of Digimon: The Movie.

This film acts as a pilot episode for Digimon Adventure. The first story focused on Tai and Kari Kamiya four years before their adventure in the Digital World. It shows their first encounter with Digimon and what happened to them (as well as the other children that saw it became the other DigiDestined) when they participated in their first Digimon battle after raising a quickly growing Botamon. In the story, that Digimon hatches from a Digi-egg and eventually evolved into Greymon to fight a Parrotmon who appeared in the city. The movie was used in episodes of Digimon Adventure to explain why Tai and company became DigiDestined.

Our War Game!

Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! is the second Digimon film. It was released in Japan on March 4, 2000.^[4] It was released in the United States on October 6, 2000 as the second part of Digimon: The Movie.

The second story occurs a few months after the battle against Apocalymon. It shows many of the DigiDestined, but primarily focuses on Tai, Matt, Izzy, and TK, as they end up saving the day when a computer virus Digimon raises havoc all over the world through the Internet. The kids must stop the evil Digimon quickly before he provokes the launching of a nuclear ICBM aimed at Japan (where the kids live). Tai and Matt end up getting so worried about their Digimon (in the form of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon) badly losing to the evil Digimon Diaboromon that they actually phase into the Internet and miraculously give them the power to destroy him in time. Both Digimon merge, evolving into the powerful Omnimon. However, Diaboromon is still too fast, until Izzy comes up with the idea to redirect e-mails that they are receiving from children watching the battle all over the world via the internet to slow Diaboromon down, allowing Omnimon to finish him off just before the missiles hit. In the end, the deactivated ICBM lands harmlessly in Tokyo Bay. Our War Game! appears to be inspired by the 1983 film, WarGames. This movie is considered canon due to Izzy's analysis of ExVeemon and Stingmon's DNA Digivolution in Adventure 02, because Izzy compares it to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon's own DNA Digivolution and how 02 character Yolei Inoue became a Digidestined. Ryo, who appears briefly in 02 and has an expanded role in Tamers, also uses his computer to help the DigiDestined.

Our War Game is similar in plot and design to Hosoda's 2009 film Summer Wars, which is not connected to the Digimon franchise; Neo magazine has stated that Our War Game is "plainly a prototype" of Summer Wars.^[5]

Digimon Hurricane Touchdown / Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals

Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals is the third Digimon film. It was released in Japan on July 8, 2000.^[6] It was released in the United States on October 6, 2000 as the third part of Digimon: The Movie.

The last story involves the next generation of DigiDestined children after they travel from Japan to the U.S.A. and meet up with Willis, helping him to stop the menace of an enigmatic threat. As a kid, Willis was given two twin Digimon, a Gummymon and a Kokomon. But one day Kokomon mysteriously disappeared without a trace, returning later as the ruthless Wendigomon (it is later revealed that he was kidnapped and corrupted by a rogue viral program). TK and Kari are the first ones to encounter Wendigomon in New York City while they are visiting Mimi; he kidnaps Mimi (she disappears before TK and Kari's eyes along with the rest of the older DigiDestined and all were placed in another dimension where they were being de-aged by Wendigomon). Willis eventually explains his connection to Wendigomon and that Wendigomon wants to see Willis again, which was why the Digimon kidnapped the older Chosen Children—because they, like him, have Digivices.

But when Willis refused to go with Wendigomon after it swiped Terriermon away, the monster evolved to Antylamon, and then Cherubimon, de-aging Willis and the younger DigiDestined as well. Willis figured out that his Digimon's urge for things to go back to the way there were literally meant to make Willis a kid again. In this battle, Patamon and Gatomon (in their Mega forms of Seraphimon and Magnadramon) gave Willis and Davis the Golden Digi-Eggs, transforming Veemon into Magnamon and Terriermon into an Armor evolved Rapidmon. After the battle was over, Cherubimon was defeated and the older Chosen Children reappeared at the points where they had disappeared from. In the end, Willis discovered that his Digimon is still alive after the fight, ready to be reborn from a Digi-Egg.

The North American compilation of this, and the two previous movies, claims that Willis 'created' Diaboromon, in an attempt to create a continuous storyline. The compilation also cuts the de-aging of the older children and battles from the third movie in order to shorten the film. Also for the dubbed version of the third movie, all the images that were shown of the older Chosen Children at the beginning of the dubbed film were actually what they were doing when they disappeared.

Digimon: The Movie

Digimon: The Movie, released in the U.S. and Canada by Fox Kids on October 6, 2000, consists of the union of the first three Japanese films (first two parts from Digimon Adventure, the third part from Digimon Adventure 02). Those stories are based in the universe introduced in the first two seasons of the TV series. This is the first American compilation film.

Revenge of Diaboromon

Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon, originally released in Japan as Digimon Adventure 02: Diablomon Strikes Back, is the fourth Digimon film, and the second American compilation film. It was released in Japan on March 3, 2001,^[7] later released in the United States on August 5, 2005. Taking place three months after MaloMyotismon's defeat, the DigiDestined go up against Diaboromon again. Tai and Matt head back to the Internet to deal with him with Omnimon, while the younger Chosen Children go to deal with the rampage of a swarm of Kuramon (Diaboromon's Fresh form). With the help of Angemon and Angewomon, Omnimon was able to destroy Diaboromon again, but it turned out to be a trap, as his destruction allowed many more Kuramon to go to the Real World. Things go out of control when the Kuramon in the Real World merge to create a Super Ultimate level called Armageddemon. It wss so powerful that neither Omnimon nor Imperialdramon were able to defeat it on their own. In the end, Omnimon gives his energy to Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, powering him up to Paladin Mode. Using his Omni Sword attack, Imperialdramon is able to strike down Armageddemon, splitting him back up into the Kuramon. With the help of the energy from the DigiDestined Digivices and the cell phones from the other kids of Japan, the Omni Sword is powered up, allowing all of the Kuramon to be destroyed for good.

Along with One Piece: Clockwork Island Adventure, the fourth Digimon film was shown as a double feature, which was called the Tōei Spring Anime Fair 2001. In total, they earned 3,000,000,000 Japanese yen.

Digimon Grandprix!

Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grandprix! (デジモンアドベンチャー３Ｄ デジモングランプリ！, Dejimon Adobenchā Gurandopuri!) is a 7-minute CG OVA produced by Toei Animation that was originally screened at the Time Machine of Dreams theme park attraction at Sanrio Puroland from July 20, 2000 to June 23, 2002 and Harmonyland. It made its theatrical debut on October 3, 2009 alongside Digimon Savers 3D: The Digital World in Imminent Danger!, GeGeGe no Kitaro: Kitaro's Ghost Train and Yaemon, The Locomotive as part of the Burst Out! 3D Toei Anime Festival.^[8] It was released on DVD along with the other three films on February 21, 2010 under the name "CG Toei Anime Festival" and was later included on a bonus disc in the Digimon THE MOVIES Blu-ray 1999-2006 compilation, released on January 9, 2015.

Digimon Adventure tri. series

Digimon Adventure tri. is a six-part film series, taking place three years after the events of Digimon Adventure 02. When mysterious occurrences cause infected Digimon to appear in the real world, the original DigiDestined team must not only combat this new threat, but also face the changes that are happening in their own lives. Reunion was released in Japan on November 21, 2015, with an English dub version to be released in September 2016, Determination was released in Japan on March 12, 2016, and Confession released on September 24, 2016.^[9]

Digimon Tamers film arc

Battle of Adventurers

Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers is the fifth Digimon film and the third American compilation film. It was released in Japan on July 14, 2001.^[10] It was released in the United States on October 16, 2005.

The Tamers are on summer vacation and split up to enjoy themselves. Takato visits his cousin Kai in Okinawa with Guilmon, Henry investigates an underwater meteor with Terriermon, and Rika stays behind with Renamon to defend their city from invading Digimon. An evil Digimon known as Mephistomon emerges and puts into motion a plan that involves the new digital pet craze known as the V-Pet to disable worldwide communications and allow Digimon to cross over freely into the real world. The only way to stop this lies within the body of Seasarmon, the Digimon partner of Minami, the daughter of the creator of the V-Pets. There's no rest for the Tamers and their partners as they fight their toughest battle yet to save the world. Early mistranslated promo information cemented the idea that this movie was out of continuity with the series, but in the finished movie, there is very little to suggest that this could be true. Given that Kai goes on to appear later in the series itself, and knows who Guilmon is at the time, would suggest that the movie is in continuity. The Tamers' Digimon in their Ultimate-level forms (WarGrowlmon, Rapidmon and Taomon) create a new attack. It consists of the Digimon changing into a crystallized form and combining together to form a giant bird made of pure energy. This move has been dubbed the "Trinity Burst".

Runaway Locomon

Digimon Tamers: Runaway Locomon originally released in Japan as Digimon Tamers: Runaway Digimon Express, is the sixth Digimon film.^[11] This is also the fourth American compilation film. It was released in Japan on March 2, 2002. It was released in the United States on October 2, 2005.

Entitled Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express in Japan, this takes place after the series finale (technically in the Tamers Universe, six months after the D-Reaper was destroyed); in it, the Tamers are planning to throw Rika a surprise party, but their plans are derailed as they must try to stop a train-Digimon named Locomon, who is being controlled by Parasimon who has opened a portal to the Digital World that is allowing other Parasimon to cross over and invade the city. A battle occurs in which all of the Tamers battle the Parasimon army to no avail until Gallantmon digivolves to Gallantmon: Crimson Mode and destroys them all with one shot. The movie served to provide insight on Rika, and also to confirm that the Tamers were, indeed, reunited with their Digimon partners after the series ended. The movie's storyline takes place 2 months after the Tamers had figured out how to send messages to their Digimon in the Digital World.

Chiaki Konaka states in his character notes (for Rika) that he "was not consulted" on Runaway Locomon, which possibly explains certain continuity errors. On this he also says: "However, ...Mr. Tetsuharu Nakamura [the director], [who was] an assistant director of the TV series... [and] Mr. Hiro Masaki,... a regular writer for the series... paid a great deal of attention to the psychological aspects of the series when completing the movie... I am very grateful to them for boldly illustrating the parts of Rika's family life that the TV series never explored."

Digimon Frontier film arc

Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon

Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon originally released in Japan as Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (デジモンフロンティア: 古代デジモン復活!!, Dejimon Furontia: Kodai Dejimon Fukkatsu!!) is the seventh Digimon film and the fifth and most current American compilation film.^[12] It was released in Japan July 20, 2002, and in the United States, October 23, 2005.

Takuya and his DigiDestined team are traveling through a desert when they find themselves ending up on a floating continent known as the Lost Island in a civil war between human-type and beast-type Digimon. In the village of humanoid Digimon, Takuya, J.P., and Tommy learn from Kotemon of a legend that the island was protected by their god Ornismon. Kotemon proceeds to take them to a neutral location where his friend Bearmon brought Koji and Zoe after they ended up in his village. After the two sides argue what they learned, Bearmon and Kotemon lead them to a mural of Ornismon with Bokomon deeming the DigiCode to be incomplete. Their peaceful meeting is broken up as Kotemon and Bearmon's older brothers, Dinohyumon and Grizzlymon, appear and battle each other. But after Takuya and Koji spirit evolve to Agunimon and KendoGarurumon to stop them, the respective brothers walk away.

As the human Digimon prepare for battle when their leader d'Arcmon rallies the crowd, Takuya reluctantly accepts Dinohyumon's recruitment offer to allow Tommy to escape with Kotemon. A similar event with J.P. and Zoe spiriting Bearmon occurs at the beast Digimon village as Koji accepts Grizzlymon's offer during a speech by the beast Digimons' leader Hippogriffomon. Zoe, Tommy, J.P, Bokomon, and Neemon help many Fresh Digimon assemble the writing under the mural. But upon its completion, Bokomon deciphers that Ornismon is actually an evil Digimon that oppressed the island before being sealed away by the Anicent Warriors—AncientGreymon and AncientGarurumon. Furthermore, after the group notices a missing piece in the mural that is identical to the ornament both d'Arcmon and Hippogriffomon possess, J.P. and Zoe proceed to inform Takuya and Koji while the others stay behind in hope that they can find an answer to the crisis.

On the battlefield, Takuya and Koji eventually spirit evolve to BurningGreymon and Lobomon to stop the war, but end up getting both sides to turn on them before Kazemon and Beetlemon arrive. The two revealed that on their way, they discovered a horrible secret: the two armies' leader being the same Digimon when catching d'Arcmon transform into Hippogriffomon. Exposed while forced to become d'Arcmon again, the fraud confesses to have been collecting the Fractal Code from the many fallen Digimon to revive and control Ornismon while assuming his true form: Murmukusmon. Overpowering the Legendary Warriors, Murmukusmon guides Ornismon to the murals of AncientGreymon and AncientGarurumon, which begin shining. Kotemon gives his life to protect them, and Bearmon's tears along with Kotemon's sacrifice summons spectral forms of the Ancient Warriors. Their appearance gives the DigiDestined a second wind with the island residents joining them as Agunimon takes out Murmukusmon before the Legendary Warriors destroy Ornismon for good. With Ornismon no more, the Lost Island returns to the Digital World with the two sides finally making peace with Kotemon turning up alive as he and Bearmon have a tearful reunion.

Digimon Savers (Data Squad) film arc

Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!!

Digimon Savers: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (デジモンセイバーズ: 究極パワー！ バーストモード発動！！, Dejimon Seibāzu: Kyūkyoku Pawā! Bāsuto Mōdo Hatsudō!!) is the 9th Digimon film, released on December 9, 2006 by Toei Animation based on the Digimon Data Squad anime.^[13] It is considered non-canon to the series.

The plot revolves around Agumon, Gaomon and Lalamon, whose partners are put into an eternal sleep, along with the rest of the humans, because of a mysterious thorn that spread throughout the city. After saving Rhythm, a Digimon in the form of a young girl, they learn from her that the thorns are the work of an Ultimate Digimon, named Argomon, and the four set out for his castle to confront him.

The Digital World in Imminent Danger!

Digimon Savers 3D: The Digital World in Imminent Danger! (デジモンセイバーズ３Ｄ デジタルワールド 危機イッパツ !, Dejimon Saibāzu 3D: Dejitaru Wārudo Kiki Ippatsu!) is a 7-minute CG OVA produced by Toei Animation that was originally screened at the Time Machine of Dreams theme park attraction at Sanrio Puroland from July 8, 2006 to July 2, 2008 and Harmonyland. It made its theatrical debut on October 3, 2009 alongside Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grandprix!, GeGeGe no Kitaro: Kitaro's Ghost Train and Yaemon, The Locomotive as part of the Burst Out! 3D Toei Anime Festival.^[14] It was released on DVD along with the other three films on February 21, 2010 under the name "CG Toei Anime Festival" and was later included on a bonus disc in the Digimon THE MOVIES Blu-ray 1999-2006 compilation, released on January 9, 2015.

Other films

Digital Monster X-Evolution

Digital Monster X-Evolution (デジタルモンスター ゼヴォリューション, Dejitaru Monsutā Zevoryūshon) is the eighth Digimon film, and the first to air originally on Japanese television. It aired on 3 January 2005, at 7:15 a.m. UTC+9/JST on the Fuji TV network.^[15]

Digital Monster X-Evolution is also the first and, so far, only Digimon movie to be done entirely in CG (CG animation by Imagi Animation Studios), as well as the only Digimon movie not related to one of the Digimon anime series. It is frequently referred to among fans by the commonplace portmanteau, "Digimon X-Evolution".

In the Digital World, the overpopulation of Digimon forces the world’s creator, the supercomputer Yggdrasil to launch the X-Program which exterminates ninety-eight percent of all Digimon. Creating a smaller, new Digital World via Project Ark, Yggdrasil learns a small group of Digimon have gained a vaccine called the X-Antibody, that makes them immune to the X-Program, and upgrades them with new abilities and appearances. Yggdrasil dispatches its guards, the Royal Knights, to exterminate the X-Digimon. The Royal Knights consists of the merciless, loyal Omnimon, his best friend Gallantmon who questions Yggdrasil’s motives, and the quiet Magnamon.

Dorumon, a dragon-like Digimon and X-Antibody carrier, does not understand the prejudice from other Digimon. He is targeted by a Leomon for his X-Antibody, but Leomon is struck by lightning and dies, asking Dorumon to live for him. Omnimon is summoned to a meeting between regular Digimon and X-Digimon, but he exterminates all of them save WarGreymon X and a Tokomon. The two crashland near a temple where Dorumon lives, WarGreymon X leaving Tokomon in Dorumon’s care whilst he lures Omnimon away. Dorumon witnesses Omnimon exterminate a herd of Digimon who oppose Yggdrasil’s will before being targeted himself. WarGreymon X and MetalGarurumon X arrive, but the latter is killed, though not before giving his X-Antibody to a wounded Tokomon.

Dorumon digivolves into his Champion-level Dorugamon, but Gallantmon arrives, revealing to Omnimon that Project Ark’s second phase involves wiping out all Digimon, something which he refuses to participate in. Omnimon and Gallantmon duel, but Gallantmon allows himself to be killed so he can discern the truth, leaving Omnimon confused. Magnamon capture Dorugamon on Yggdrasil’s command, revealing Dorumon is an experiment. Data is extracted from Dorugamon, used to create an army of DexDoruGreymon while Dorugamon is dumped in a junkyard where he is found by resistance members Mummymon and Wizardmon. Yggdrasil’s horde attacks the group’s base, but WarGreymon X and a revived MetalGarurumon X help protect it. Dorugamon awakens, digivolving into DoruGreymon, resembling the attacking horde. Gallantmon returns as an X-Digimon, opening a portal for DoruGreymon to confront Yggdrasil.

DoruGreymon confronts Magnamon and a disillusioned Omnimon. DoruGreymon digivolves into his Mega-level Alphamon, a legendary missing Royal Knight. Alphamon and Omnimon join forces to face Yggdrasil, but the loyal Magnamon warns his master of their arrival. In Yggdrasil’s core, the Knights get nowhere with answers, and have to battle Alphamon’s counterpart Dexmon. Alphamon impales himself and Dexmon using his own sword, and gives his X-Antibody to Omnimon, who successfully slays Yggdrasil. In the rebooted Digital World, Omnimon and Gallantmon muse over Yggdrasil’s choices, concluding it merely wanted to live in the Digital World but it was too complex for it. Alphamon survives as Dorumon, reuniting with Tokomon.

References