[frownie]

If I can judge from my child and his friends, I can tell you the angry birs brand is just massively popular and that the lack of story is absolutely irrelevant to them (they just care about levels, birds' powers, things they win, etc.) The story, bah, what for ?

[lentil_soup]

You think they would be as interested in an animated movie?

[eps]

Rovio has made a boatload of animated shorts already, most of which are as dumb and flat as you'd imagine them to be, but I still see my kids watching them with interest. Just like Digimon had its audience, Rovio's flick may find their.

[dragontamer]

Maybe you meant Pokemon.

Digimon's characters were quite deep. Matt vs Tai had the rivalry thing going (especially since Matt represented friendship, despite straying from the path he eventually proved himself to be a very reliable friend). Tai's progression from false-courage (accidentally turning Agumon into SkullGreymon) to true courage (MetalGreymon) is also quite thought provoking.

Its got a relatively straightforward formula. Associate each character with a virtue, and then they told a story about it. (Courage for Tai, Friendship Matt, Knowledge Izzy, Sincerity Mimi, Honesty Joe, Hope TK). The evolution of each character was associated with a physical being (the Digimon) that got stronger as each kid recognized the strength of their virtue.

But the Digimon characters made relationships based on their virtues, in particular Tai (Courage) vs Matt (friendship). The younger sister of Tai (Kari, representing "Light") was good friends with Matt's younger brother TK (Hope). Etc. etc.

There was a _lot_ of character interaction and development.

On the other hand, Pokemon is just straight up milking the series. Real depth of characters can be found in "Pokemon Special" comics however, and some Pokemon games have legitimate villains now.

[eps]

A friend of mine went to see that movie with his kids, quickly gave up trying to understand what was going on and had a great nap instead. Kids were 7-9-ish, he was 40. I'm pretty sure it was Digimon.

[w0utert]

In my experience kids will watch almost anything as long as it's colorful, it moves and it makes funny sounds. Surely Angry Birds animated shorts are popular because kids recognize the birds, but I'd say that's hardly a basis for a strong, stable and lasting brand. When some other game with cute characters gets very popular and kids lose interest in Angry Birds games they (and by transitivity: their parents) will also lose interest in Angry Birds animated shorts and Angry Birds merchandise (exhibit A: this news article). It's not like <12 year olds are the best target audience for brand loyalty and disposable income.

[the_new_guy]

"dumb and flat"? Maybe it's just the fact that I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old, so I've become somewhat of a connoisseur of animated shorts, but I've actually been fairly amazed with the quality of most of the animated shorts. With no real dialogue to speak of, there is an awful lot of humor packed into these, and the voice acting combined with the animation in some of the shorts is pretty damn impressive, often conveying a surprising amount of emotion and expressiveness that I would not have expected.

I'll give you dumb possibly, but flat? Watch a good number of them again and see if you still say that.

[jkaunisv1]

Digimon actually had some interesting plot and characterization. Yes, most of it was one- or two-dimensional but the character dynamics between Tai and Matt and his younger brother were actually quite good.

[greatergoodguy]

Digimon (first season) had superb characters who were all multi-dimensional. Izzy was adopted and they had a small arc on that and Sora has a trouble relationship with her divorced mom who she lives with. I found this series very interesting as a 10 year old boy.

[jkaunisv1]

Thanks, I couldn't remember details on the other characters! despite loving Izzy, I mostly remember him as "the techy nerd" of the group. I also found the series very thought-provoking as a young boy.