digimon the movie is the definitive ska film

For a brief period in 2019, a close friend of mine would drop me off at home after university. I haven't had a car in a good few years, and for getting back home I've consistently relied on the kindness of my friends. We started a small, personal tradition which would consist of us playing about 8 or so different ska or ska-influenced songs in the car, on the way home. In a different article, this would work as a pre-COVID 19 reflection. A weekly, hour-long moment of connection with a friend in a physical space, the type of moment that has been increasingly rare given the events of the last three years. That's not what this piece is about. The point here is this: Ska rules. 

Ska was born out of the combination of the post-slavery revival of traditional african music in Jamaica with the influence of blues and jazz music, american voices pouring out of radio players into jamaican ears. It is usually stated that the 1960s was the decade where ska truly established itself. As is the case with millions of music genres, there is no consensus on who, exactly, "invented" ska (insofar as anyone can invent a music genre), though some influential figures from the decade are Ernie Ranglin, Prince Buster, and The Skatalites. 

Reggae is usually brought up in discussions of ska, and the so-called second wave of ska occurred while reggae was bursting in popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s (of course, Bob Marley’s tragic death in 1981 forming an important part of the myth of reggae). 

"under the influence: 2 tone ska" is a 2015 documentary that takes a look at the second wave of ska

However, the version of ska that most people are probably familiar with is the third wave of ska. Bands like No Doubt, Smash Mouth, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and Mustard Plug. This form of ska is very often conflated with ska-punk, though that itself got its start in the second wave of ska, born out of the intersection of ska music with british punk and post-punk, and is not at all exclusive to the third wave of ska. Nonetheless, the third wave of ska reached levels of success that the genre had not seen before. It was at its most popular. Close the curtain on the 90s. Enter the 2000s. Enter DIGIMON: THE MOVIE.

DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is weird. It is a Frankenstein's Monster of a film for a specific kind of late 1990s/early 2000s look and feel, bursting with texture in its flat colors, and charming cgi. It is, to me, a perfect representation of the period it was crafted in. Not just in its plot, that involves lovely critters spawning from virtual eggs inside of computers (the wonders of the world-wide web, indeed, are part of the base that makes up the DIGIMON franchise). No, DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is also a reflection of its creators. And by creators, I don't exactly mean the incredibly talented directors Mamoru Hosoda and Shigeyasu Yamauchi, or their creative staff at Toei Animation. I'm not referring to the Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru character designs, or the killer uncanny animation of Hisashi Mori. No, all their contributions were already set in stone when, presumably, a set of executives at FoxKids endeavored to merge and mash together three pre-existing anime shorts: DIGIMON ADVENTURE, DIGIMON ADVENTURE: OUR WAR GAME, and DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02: DIGIMON HURRICANE LANDING!!/TRANSCENDENT EVOLUTION!! THE GOLDEN DIGIMENTALS. 

This unholy union of presumably perfect children's cartoons was, then, an extremely American creation, also a reflection of the times. I say presumably to convey the fact that I have not seen the original versions of these short films. I thought about journalistic rigor, and it did not seem fair to let my assessment of DIGIMON: THE MOVIE be affected by matters as trivial as the actually good versions of this movie's ingredients. It is not a competition between POKÉMON and DIGIMON, though my friend Joe assures me that if he were to compare POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE with the short films that were grinded up into DIGIMON: THE MOVIE, then those short films would win in quality and entertainment. This, I think, serves as a good indicator of the quality of the original material. After this piece is up, I may watch them, and treat myself to some beautiful-looking late 90s/early 2000s children's cartoons. I also may not watch them. Nowadays, if you're gonna get anime dubbed in english, it'll most likely be the exact same cartoon, just with an english script that has been properly localized. This was not the prevailing mentality at the time, particularly with children's cartoons, and examples can be found in the infamous 4Kids transformations of shows. This movie, too, is an example of the trend, its english script adding jokes where there previously weren't any, and also switching up the music.

it is hard for me to overemphasize how gorgeous i think this movie is. 

The combined runtime of the three anime shorts and/or movies that were metamorphosed into DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is of 126 minutes. DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is a mere 84 minutes, showcasing the fact that in this alchemical sequence, about 40 minutes were lost to the laws of equivalent exchange. This process, as you might imagine, does not result in a particularly coherent work. I can tell that each of these individual stories were good at a certain point, but DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is not good, at least, not in the way that we generally think of something as being good. Perhaps DIGIMON: THE MOVIE doesn't have quality, but what it lacks in quality, it makes up for in sheer ska.

The soundtrack of DIGIMON: THE MOVIE is, I think, one of the most important elements of its composition as a product designed by FoxKids executives to captivate english-speaking children. It consists of 17 tracks, and features artists such as Smash Mouth, Fatboy Slim, Less than Jake, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. To say this soundtrack features exclusively ska-punk or even exclusively ska would be misleading. However, there are enough tracks, and they are utilized deliberately enough in the compilation film, that it's safe to say that by being a ska-forward soundtrack, it makes DIGIMON: THE MOVIE itself a ska-forward film.  

this moment, an epic climax of digital death and re-birth, is followed by "let's kick it up" by the great, late paul gordon. it rules

It is there that I come to the question that has been festering in my brain ever since I first saw this movie, months ago. It started as an idea, a simple question. Is DIGIMON: THE MOVIE the definitive ska film?

"Hold on" I said to myself, "let's not be hasty. First of all, ska rules." I agreed. "And if ska rules, surely there are several movies that predominantly feature ska, and could be argued to have equal if not more of a right to be the definitive ska movie". Sure, that's very true. I think going through the big candidates first is important, then. If I missed a movie, I'd be honored if you'd yell at me in the comments, though for now, I've ventured into the reddit /r/Ska board, to find out what movies people associate with the genre. Here are four prominent examples:

1. Clueless: This beloved teen coming-of-age is notable for not only having The Mighty Mighty Bosstones in the soundtrack, but for actually having them perform at a house party in one of the movie's sequences. It's a compelling argument, to actually have the Bosstones in your movie, though I vote against it because Clueless is a fairly iconic and memorable movie for reasons that are, by and large, not related to ska music.
2. The Harder They Come: The movie that is referred to in popular culture as having brought reggae to the world, The Harder They Come is a Jamaican crime movie from 1972, going all the way back to the 2nd wave of ska, during which reggae became immensely popular. In this case, I'd argue that the film's primary music association is reggae, and not ska. I wouldn't disagree with anyone who named it the definitive reggae movie. 
3. Good Burger: Another fairly convincing one, as "We're All Dudes" from the original soundtrack was performed by ska band Less Than Jake. However, I'd say as a whole, the soundtrack to this cult classic is more defined by R&B and Hip-Hop than it is by ska, so it is, again, disqualified. 
4. An Extremely Goofy Movie: Alright by this point I'm not sure what the redditor was arguing. There's basically nothing ska about this movie. I understand that it is about skateboarding and there has historically been some overlap in the communities but this is a baffling suggestion. Also it's a direct-to-video Disney flick. Get real.

no two ways about it: agumon wins

Having concluded my not-particularly-academic research, it became clear that there's no generally agreed upon definitive ska movie. It's not well-trodden ground, and I do not believe that any of the competition previously established could possibly defeat DIGIMON: THE MOVIE's claim to the throne. Once again, I feel compelled to point out: This is not a good movie. If you want to experience an animated classic by one of the great modern anime directors, I'd recommend seeking out the original short films that this movie is built upon. That being said, there is something weirdly compelling about a project as haphazardly constructed as this. It is, unarguably, less than the sum of its parts. However, in spite of that, the sheer shock of seeing Toei Animation's beautiful shots and character acting contrasted with the blaring Smash Mouth rock remains oddly compelling. If, for whatever reason, what you want is a movie that is vaguely incoherent, sometimes beautiful, and deeply, artificially ska-imbued, then this is the movie for you.

SOURCES:

• Ellis, I., Quinn, R., Barrett, M., Furey, D., & Morgan, T. (2020). The Deep and Distant Roots of the Ska-Punk Hybrid,.
• PopMatters. https://www.popmatters.com/ska-punk-hybrid-2646986964.html
• The History of Rock Music in the 1990s From Nirvana to “Nookie.” (2019, April 19). LiveAbout. https://www.liveabout.com/history-of-rock-music-1990s-10970
• K. (2019, April 17). Digimon Adventure: 20 Years Of Sincere Mamoru Hosoda Films. Sakuga Blog. https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2019/03/16/digimon-adventure-20/
• Lavin, L. (2021, June 2). The bizarre history of ska music. Grunge.Com. https://www.grunge.com/226505/the-bizarre-history-of-ska-music/
• Snowden, D. (1986, March 12). THE FATHERS OF SKA. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-06-01-ca-8543-story.html