Digimon History
DIGIMON HISTORY The original Digimon was a virtual pet created by Bandai of Japan in June of 1997. After the success of the Japanese virtual pet, Tamogotchi, in 1996, Bandai decided to create a Tamogotchi toy for boys. The Digimon virtual pet needed to be cared for like a real pet, and could battle with another kids’ Digimon by linking the two units together. Records of wins and losses were stored and kids enjoyed proving that they could raise a better Digimon pet than their neighbor. Over time and with proper care, the Digimon pet could grow up and evolve into other, more powerful Digimon. About the same time, another phenomena had gained momentum with Japanese children. Nintendo introduced the Pokemon Game Boy interactive video game in 1996, a game which involved raising, battling and collecting digital pets. As Pokemon’s popularity spread, so did the demand for other digital pets. By March 1999, Digimon had it’s own Japanese animated television series and trading card games. The Digimon TV series is produced by Toei Animation, one of Japan’s largest animation studios. Stunned by the success of Pokemon, Toei, and Saban Entertainment, Fox Kids’ in-house studio, put together a plan to adapt the Digimon cartoon for the U.S. market. The Digimon craze hit the U.S. in August 1999 when the animated television series “Digimon: Digital Monsters” premiered on the For Kids Network. The Digimon show is about seven kids who are transported to another world after being grabbed by a digital tornado. In this digital world, each kid finds a small bouncing head. The heads grow into Digimon and each kid bonds with his/her own Digimon pet. Whenever the kids are in danger, each Digimon (digital monster) “digivolves” into a more powerful Digimon. The cartoon promotes qualities like courage, love, friendship, reliability, sincerity, hope and knowledge. It also addresses difficult subjects such as adoption, divorce and living in a single parent home. The Digimon TV series was one of the top- rated series in the year 2000. As of March 2001, Digimon was rated the #1 show overall with boys 6-11, and as the #1 show in its time period with kids 2-11 and kids 6-11. The Digimon TV series has also been launched in Europe, South America, Canada, and most parts of Asia. In Spain, the Digimon show airs seven days a week on Fox Kids Espana. The popularity of the television series in the U.S. paved the way for the trading card game, as well as for Digimon toys and plenty of other Digimon retail merchandise. According to Bandai, most American fans of Digimon are in the 4 to 9 year old age range, while the cards appeal to slightly older children, aged 7 to 12. In July 2000, Bandai released the first Digimon video game, “Digimon World”, a Sony PlayStation game. In October 2000, Twentieth Century Fox released “Digimon: The Movie” to U.S. theatres. The movie combined the original 3 Japanese movies into a single American release. In summary, Digimon Digital monsters has evolved into an international phenomenon and stands firm as one of the hottest properties available today, both in broadcast and cable television, and in kids’ toys and merchandise. Click here for Digimon products. This information is brought to you by Character Products Inc. DISCLAIMER: Digimon and all related characters and elements are the rightful property of Fox Kids. This web site is not operated or endorsed by Fox Kids. This page was created for informational purposes only. Although our intent was to provide accurate information, we are unable to guarantee accuracy and are willing to make corrections. Please see Character Product's Terms and Conditions for further details. Upon entering this site, you released Character Products Inc., and it's owners and operators from any liability for any material herein. We apologize for the inconvience of this diversion.