TLDR;
Jeff Nimoy discusses the making of "Digimon: The Movie" for its 20th anniversary. He recounts the initial surprise at being offered the project, the challenges of merging three separate Japanese Digimon movies into one cohesive film, and the creative and logistical hurdles faced during production. He also shares anecdotes about working with Haim Saban and the internal debates regarding which parts of the original movies to include.
- The initial offer to create a Digimon movie was a surprise.
- Combining three movies into one presented significant creative challenges.
- Internal debates arose regarding the inclusion of all three original movie parts.
Digimon the Movie: The Super Shocking News [0:51]
Jeff Nimoy reflects on the 20th anniversary of "Digimon: The Movie," recalling the initial offer to write and voice direct the film as a dream come true. He mentions that he and Bob Buckholz had just finished the first season of Digimon and were in negotiations for the second season. As part of the negotiations, Fox offered them three theatrically released Digimon movies. However, this was then changed to the task of combining three existing Japanese Digimon movies into a single film for theatrical release. Despite the change, Nimoy and Buckholz were excited about the project.
Digimon the Movie: Aftershocks [3:38]
Nimoy discusses the workflow challenges of simultaneously producing Digimon season 2 and the movie. To manage this, they brought in additional writers for the series while he and Bob Buckholz focused on the movie. They reviewed the three original Japanese movies: "Digimon Adventure," which they found sweet and childlike; "Digimon Adventure: Our War Game," which they were most excited about due to its slick animation and potential for comedy; and "Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Landing!!/Transcendental Aegyptus," which they found slow and difficult to integrate due to character age discrepancies. Nimoy called an emergency meeting to discuss his concerns about the third movie's compatibility with the other two.
Digimon the Movie: The Puzzle Pieces [11:54]
Nimoy describes the emergency meeting with Haim Saban, Terry O'Malley, Eric Rollman, and others to discuss the integration of the three Digimon movies. He proposed using only the first two movies, comparing it to "The Wizard of Oz" due to the animation style differences. Terry O'Malley suggested using the second and third parts and excluding the first. Saban then questioned if anyone had been in contact with his Japanese contacts, emphasizing his control over business deals. Legal and production heads expressed concerns about being obligated to use all three parts due to agreements between Saban, Fox, 20th Century Fox, Toei Animation, and Bandai. The final decision allowed for cutting down the third part but required using a decent portion of it in the movie.