Disney’s Fox Acquisition Includes ‘Digimon’ Rights

If you hadn’t heard, Disney and 21st Century Fox came to an understanding last week about a long-rumored merger. After lots of speculation, Disney did confirm it had bought most of its competitors assets, and comic book fans were thrilled. However, anime lovers are just now realizing that Disney’s takeover of Fox does bleed into their fandom.

After all, it looks like Disney has rights to Digimon now.

Back in 2000, anime fans were gifted with the very first Digimon film. The feature was created by Toei Animation, but its distribution stateside was handled by 20th Century Fox. Now, it looks like Disney has nabbed those distribution rights once and more all.

In the grand scheme, Disney’s new anime rights will not have much effect for any party. Digimon: The Movie is no longer in circulation, and as far as fans know, 21st Century Fox never won live-action rights for the franchise. There is very little chance Disney will be able to bring Digimon back to the big screen, and the franchise’s current films have secured distributors already. Eleven Arts and Shout! Factory have been overseeing the home releases of Digimon Adventure Tri. since the franchise was exported from Japan.

If the Disney deal does anything, it may make it more difficult to nab copies of Digimon: The Movie in the future. Should the franchise ever wanted to re-release the classic title, it will have to go through Mickey first. So, for those of you wanting to buy the film, buy it now before any distribution rights can limit your access.

For those of you wanting to know more about the Digimon movie, you can check out its official synopsis below:

“When a powerful new Internet Digimon hatches and begins to consume data at an alarming rate, the Digidestined – kids chosen to save the digital world – must put an end to the destruction before the damage becomes irreversible and worldwide communication halts forever. As computer-based missiles are launched, and a wayward Digimon kidnaps the Digidestined, only the combined efforts of a worldwide network of kids and a new group of “Digidestined” can rescue the others and stop global disaster.”

Do you think Disney should dive deeper into the world of anime? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!