Digimon Adventure

It's interesting to go back and watch this after seeing Fox Kids' 2000 re-edit nightmare, 'Digimon: The movie.' The latter was a sorry mess as unwieldy, near-constant dialogue accelerated already swift pacing, poorly communicated its new story, and even distracted from the animation. In sharp contrast, for as small as the original short is at only twenty minutes long, it's unquestionably more carefully considered in and of itself, and is actually pretty cute and fun! When recycled for the full-length feature it was trimmed and reduced to a prologue; the script in Hosoda Mamoru's actual piece is very, very simple, yet writer Yoshida Reiko wove in some nice little minutiae to round it out, and engage viewers a tad more. The scene writing is surprisingly strong in a variety of kids' fare that is decidedly less sophisticated, with some delightful humor accompanying touches of drama and the climactic kaiju battle that forms the centerpiece.

And as one expects of Toei Animation, and anime generally, the artists behind the scenes turned in splendid work. The visuals here aren't the top of the line, but still there is excellent detail and texture in the backgrounds, and the creature designs are a blast. The animation is pretty smooth and fluid, especially at the climax with its action and effects; even if it doesn't utterly impress, it more than serves its purpose. Add some swell music on top for good measure, and I'm very pleased with how good 'Digimon adventure' really is. It's quite humble compared to the lofty heights that Hosoda has achieved in his subsequent career as a filmmaker, yet even with defined parameters and limitations, he churned out a tiny slice of entertainment that holds up rather well, all things considered. There's hardly any need to go out of your way for this, but given its quick length it's a neat way to fill some time on a quiet day if you come across it.