All the weird and wonderful stuff in Digimon that you might not have noticed - hidden references, parodies, imitations, common threads, reasons behind certain actions, and more! New info marked out with red.
What's in a Name? - the
meanings behind US episode titles
Star Talk - celebrity impressions you might not
have noticed
Call of Cthulhu - all the references to That
Which Cannot Be Named
It's the Andy Griffith Show - classic sitcom in
contemporary monster cartoon
The One-Track Mind of Chiaki Konaka - plot
threads Tamers' head writer likes to re-use
The EVA Connection - homages to "Neon
Genesis Evangelion"
Foxy Lady - the relevance of Kitsune legends
Many of the American titles given to Digimon episodes have been parodies of the titles of other films, books and TV shows, as well as famous quotes and phrases.
1.18 - "The Piximon
Cometh" - from "The Iceman Cometh," a
play by Eugene O'Neill.
1.25 - "Princess Karaoke" - a pun on the title of the anime movie, "Princess Mononoke" (right) known as "Mononoke Hime" in Japan.
1.42 - "Under Pressure" - while "to be under pressure" is a common expression, the title may also be a reference to the Queen song of the same name.
1.48 - "My Sister's Keeper" - reference to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Shortly after Cain murders Abel, God asks him where Abel is, and Cain replies: "Am I my brother's keeper?"
1.53 - "Now Apocalymon" - apparently a reference to the 1979 Francis Ford Coppola film, "Apocalypse Now."
2.04 - "Iron Vegiemon" - from the TV show, "Iron Chef," further substantiated by the numerous cooking metaphors RedVegiemon uses in the episode.
2.09 - "The Emperor's New Home" - from the fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes."
2.12 - "The Good, the Bad and the Digi"
- obvious parody of the 1966 spagehtti western, "The Good,
the Bad and the Ugly," starring Clint Eastwood.
2.13 - "His Masters' Voice" - from a
painting of the same name by Francis Barraud (left). The
painting, made in 1899, featured Barraud's dog, Nipper, listening
to Barraud's voice on a phonograph, puzzled as to where the voice
was coming from.
2.15 - "Big
Trouble in Little Edo" - play on the title of the
1986 film by John Carpenter, "Big Trouble in Little
China" (right). "Edo" is the name for ancient
Tokyo.
2.16 - "20,000 Digi-Leagues Under the Sea" - an obvious parody of Jules Verne's famous book, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."
2.18 - "Run Yolei Run" - based on the title of the 1999 Tom Tykwer film, "Run Lola Run."
2.20 - "The Darkness Before Dawn" - working out of the saying, "It's always darkest before the dawn."
2.22 - "Davis Cries Wolfmon" - play on the fable, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."
2.24 - "If I had a Tail Hammer..." - a play on the title of the 1950's song, "If I had a Hammer," by Lee Hayes and Pete Seeger.
2.26 - "United We Stand" - working out of the saying, "United they stand, divided they fall."
2.32 - "If I Only
had a Heart" - named after the song sung by the Tin
Woodsman (left) in the classic 1939 film adaptation of the L.
Frank Baum novel, "The Wizard of Oz."
2.36 - "Stone Soup" - from the fairy tale of the same name. It tells the tale of a peddler who comes to an Eastern European country, which is stricken with famine. He says he will make "stone soup" to eat, putting a stone in a pot of boiling water. As the villagers look on, he comments that it would taste better with a little cabbage - one villager has some, and adds it to the soup. And so it goes on, as the peddler says the soup will taste better with other ingredients, and one by one, a different villager is able to provide the required ingredient. And finally, a delicious soup is made that feeds the whole town. This is only one version of the tale - the identity of the soup-brewer changes from version to version, and the required ingredients also differ.
2.37 - "Kyoto Dragon" - quite possibly a pun on "Komodo Dragon," a species of huge, ferocious lizard native to the Komodo Islands.
2.49 - "The Last Temptation of the DigiDestined" - based on the title of Martin Scorsese's 1988 Biblical movie, "The Last Temptation of Christ."
3.01 - "Guilmon Comes Alive" - reference to the music album, "Peter Frampton Comes Alive."
3.02 - "Digimon, Digimon Everywhere" - working out of the timeless sea-goers' proverb, "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink."
3.03 - "To Fight or Not to Fight?" - play on the famous "To be or not to be?" soliloquay from William Shakespeare's "Hamlet."
3.04 - "It Came From the Other Side" - a title that pays homage to many early B-Movies with similar names. The earliest one is 1953's "It Came From Outer Space."
3.05 - "Dream a Little Dream" - from the 1968 Louis Armstrong song of the same name.
3.06 - "O Partner, Where Art Thou?" - comes from the film "Sullivan's Travels," in which a Depression-era moviemaker goes on the road to research a significant story for his next movie, which he plans to call "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" This is also where the title for the 2000 movie starring George Clooney originates.
3.07 - "Now You See It, Now You Don't" - a popular phrase used by magicians when they make something disappear.
3.09 - "Not as Seen on TV" - play on the popular advertising slogan, "as seen on TV."
3.10 - "The Icemon Cometh" - like
1.18, "The Piximon Cometh," this is another, much more
direct reference to "The 
Iceman
Cometh."
3.11 - "Much Ado About Musyamon" - another Shakespeare riff, based on the title of the play "Much Ado About Nothing."
3.12 - "Divided They Stand" - like 2.26, another play on "United they stand, divided they fall."
3.14 - "Grow Mon Grow" - possibly a reference to the children's book, "Go Dog Go."
3.15 - "Snakes, Trains and Digimon" - play on the title of the 1987 movie, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," (right) starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
2.19 - "Impmon's Last Stand" - probably a refence to the silent 1909 movie, "Custer's Last Stand," based on the Battle of Little Big Horn - while many movies have had simliar titles, this one is the earliest, and hence the trend-setter.
3.22 - "The
Boar Wars" - punning on the real-life Boer War,
which ran from 1899 to 1902.
3.25 - "Brave New Digital World" - based on the title of the 1932 novel, "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley.
3.26 - "Kazu and Kenta's Excellent Adventure" - play on the title of the 1989 cult hit movie, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," (left) starring Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves.
3.28 - "Blame it
on Ryo"- rather clever pun on the title of the 1984
movie, "Blame it on Rio," starring Michael Caine.
3.30 - "The Imperfect Storm" - based on the title of the 2000 film, "The Perfect Storm," (right) starring George Clooney.
3.33 - "Rabbit Transit" - named after a video game for the Atari system (below left).
3.35 - "Give a Little Bit" - possibly a reference to the 1992 Supertramp song of the same name.
3.37 - "No Mon is an Island" - play on the famous quote by John Dunne, "No man is an island, complete unto himself." It basically means that no-one can do everything on their own.
3.38 - "Azulongmon
Explains it All" - unwelcome reference to the early
90's Nickelodeon children's TV series, "Clarissa Explains it
All," which starred a young Melissa-Joan Hart, who went on
to become Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
3.40 - "Janyu's Ark" - obvious reference to the Biblical story of Noah's Ark.
3.46 - "When is a Mon Justimon?" - based on the Biblical query, "When is a man justified?" The answer, as given in Paul's letter to the Romans, is: "when he believes."
3.47 - "His Kingdom for a Horse" - yet another Shakespeare reference, from "Richard III," during which King Richard exclaims "A horse! A horse! My kindgom for a horse!" Here, it's a reference to Grani as Gallantmon's steed.
3.51 - "Such Sweet Sorrow" - the final Shakespeare riff for season three, this one is from "Romeo and Juliet." The full line this title comes from reads "Parting is such sweet sorrow," which, in the context of this episode, has a meaning which is twofold - the parting of the Tamers and their Digimon at the episode's conclusion, and the parting of the audience and the show's characters, as the season comes to an end.
4.03 - "Kumamon Baby, Light My Fire" - reference to the Doors song, "Light My Fire," which contains the lyric, "come on baby, light my fire."
4.05 - "Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beetlemon" - parody of the introduction Ed Sullivan would give the legendary band, the Beatles, on his television show - "Ladies and gentlemen: the Beatles!" To hear this quote, click HERE.
4.06 - "A Molehill Out of a Mountain" - reversing the common expression, making a "mountain out of a molehill," which means to make a small problem seem to be bigger than it actually is.
4.07 - "Island of Misfit Boys" - a reference to the 1964 Rankin/Bass TV movie, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which featured 'the Island of Misfit Toys.' The film was remade in 2001 as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys."
4.09 - "Welcome to My Nightmare" - named for the 1975 Alice Cooper song of the same title.
4.10 - "Can't Keep a Grumblemon Down" - from the saying, "You can't keep a good man down."
4.11 - "A Hunka Hunka BurningGreymon" - from the Elivs Presley song, "Burning Love," which contains the lyric, "I'm just a hunka hunka burning love."
4.12
- "Fear and Loathing in Los Arboles" -
from the title of the 1998 Terry Gilliam movie, "Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas" (right). "Los Arboles" is
Spanish for "the trees," of which there are several in
this episode.
4.15 - "Beastie Girl" - evidently a reference to the band, the Beastie Boys.
4.16 - "The Swiss Family Digimon" - from the book, "The Swiss Family Robinson," by Johann David Wyss.
4.18 - "Trailmon vs. Trailmon" - reference to the 1979 Oscar-winning movie, "Kramer vs. Kramer," starring Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman.
4.19 - "You Want Fries With That?" - common question asked at fast food restaurants.
4.20 - "From Dawn to Duskmon" - reversal of the expression, "from dusk till dawn," which many will recognise as the title of the 1996 comedy-horror movie starring George Clooney.
4.21 - "Darkest Before Duskmon" - as with 2.20, this title spins out of the saying, "it's always darkest before the dawn."
4.27 - "Stuck in Sakkakumon With You" - from the title of the 1973 song by Stealer's Wheel, "Stuck In The Middle With You."
4.24 - "Alone But Never Alone" - reference to the famous Jazz music album of the same name, by Larry Carlton.
4.28 - "Darkness Before the Dawn" - as with 2.20 and 4.21, this title spins out of the saying, "it's always darkest before the dawn."
4.30 - "O Brother, Who Art Thou?" - as with 3.06, this comes from the movie, "Sullivan's Travels."
4.31 - "Workin' On The Train Gang" - from the 1960 song by Sam Cooke, "Chain Gang," which contains the lyric, "Workin' on the chain gang."
4.33 - "Ne'er the Twins Shall Meet" - from the phrase, "ne'er the twain shall meet." "Twain" means 'two items of the same kind.'
4.36 - "Ice Ice Baby" - from the title of the 1990 Vanilla Ice song by the same name.
Several of the voices given to various Digimon in the US version of the series are intended to mimic certain celebrities. In chronological order, they are:
Frigimon (Bill Capeze) - not Dom DeLouise, as
was originally thought, but in fact Jackie Vernon,
the late comedian who provided the voice of Frosty the
Snowman.
Etemon (Richard Epcar) - the one everyone knows,
Etemon's voice is an imitation of the famous singer and movie
star, Elvis Presley.
Digitamamon (Derek Stephen Prince) - an emulation of Peter Lorre (right). Lorre played the role of Ugarte the restauranteur in "Casablanca," and as Digitamamon is also a restauranteur, he was given Lorre's voice. Prince was cast for his ability to imitate Lorre's voice.
Phantomon
(Dave Guerrie) - based on famous horror film actor, Boris
Karloff (left).
Piedmon (Derek Stephen Prince) - Prince notes that he styled the voice after actor Tim Curry, but "with a twist." Curry, among many other roles, played the evil clown, Pennywise, in 1990's "Stephen King's It."
Cherrymon (Jeff Nimoy) - after several actors were turned down for the part, Jeff Nimoy played Cherrymon with a voice similar to that of actor Marlon Brando.
RedVegiemon (Dan Lorge) - RedVegiemon's voice has a distinctive Jack Nicholson quality about it.
Deputymon
(Michael Sorich) - Deputymon's voice is a caricature of the voice
of John Wayne, the legendary wild west movie
star (right).
Impmon (Derek Stephen Prince) - styled on the voice of the similarly small-but-tough actor, Joe Pesci.
Pajiramon (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) - a homage to actress Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway of "Star Trek: Voyager" fame).
Makuramon (Joe Ochman) - apparently a
slightly higher-pitched emulation of the late Roddy
McDowall, in an homage to McDowall's 
role
as Cornelius in the original "Planet of the Apes."
Divermon (Neil Kaplan) - the Divermon in 3.32, "Shibumi Speaks," has a voice that is a direct impression of cartoon character Bullwinkle J. Moose (right, voice of Bill Scott), of the classic "Rocky and Bullwinkle" cartoon show. The reason for this is that Kaplan has an innate fondness for doing the voice, tending to perform a routine with it in between takes in the recording studio.
Dobermon (Michael Sorich) - while it is almost certainly unintentional, Dobermon's voice bears an astonishing resemblance to that of professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage.
Angler (Dave Wittenberg) - this Trailmon's voice is based on that of Heimlich the caterpillar (voice of Joe Ranft) from the Disney movie, "A Bug's Life."
Mole (Dave Wittenberg) - this Trailmon's voice is an imitation of famous cartoon character, Droopy (voice of Bill Thompson).
Pandamon (Michael Sorich) - imitation of actor Adam West, who played the role of Batman in the 1960's TV series.
Dogmon (Michael Sorich) - taking a cue from the laugh emitted by Dogmon in the Japanese version of the episode, Dogmon's dub voice is a direct imitation of Muttley (voice of Don Messick), canine sidekick of that double-dealing do-badder, Dick Dastardly, in Hanna-Barbara's "Wacky Races" cartoon series - because the episode in question, 4.18, "Trailmon vs. Trailmon," is about a fairly 'wacky race', y'see.
Mercurymon
(Daran Norris) - while apparently not intentional, many fans and
even director Mary Elizabeth McGlynn have noted the voice's
similarity to that of actor Kelsey Grammar
(Fraiser Crane, Sidewshow Bob).
Dark Trailmon (Dave Wittenberg) - in the style of the HAL 9000 (left, voice of Douglas Rain), the computer from Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey," inspired by the fact that the Dark Trailmon shares HAL's single glowing eye.
Someone at Toei and/or Bandai (mostly likely Chiaki Konaka, see
below) seems to be extremely fond of the writings of author H.P.
Lovecraft, who wrote the tales of the demon, Cthulhu
(right). Numerous references to the mythos have appeared in the
Digimon series.
The first, most obvious reference to the Cthulhu mythos is Dragomon.
Or to be more precise, to use his Japanese name, Dagomon.
Dagomon is named after Dagon, a Phoenician
fertility deity, who features in Lovecraft's stories as an outer
god (Lovecraft version pictured at left). While Dragomon gets his
name from Dagon, his physical appearance as a tentacled monster
is based on the appearance of Cthulhu himself, as is evident from
the Cthulhu picture on the above right.
Additionally, Dagon was served by the "Deep
Ones," frog-like creatures who would do his bidding
(right). It's no stretch of the imagination to consider the "Scubamon"
to be Dragomon's equivalent of the Deep Ones, given their
frog-like appearance after they return to their true forms. This
has led to some fans calling them the "Digital Deep
Ones."
There is a small reference at work during the Daemon Corps
episodes. The symbol on Daemon's hood is a version of the
"Elder Sign," (left) created by the Elder Gods
in Lovecraft's stories as a means of protection against Cthulhu
and the other Old Ones. The symbol adorns the door of Cthulhu's
crypt.
The name of the mysterious Hypnos organisation in the third season of the show is another reference - in Lovecraft's stories, "Hypnos" was the god of sleep (or more specifically, dreams). Hypnos acted to prevent Earth's dreamers from sending their dreams beyond Earth's "dreamscape" - prevented them from moving from one world to the next, in much the same way that the Hypnos organisation in Tamers worked to prevent Digimon from moving from one world to the next in the early portion of the series.
Early on in the series, Hypnos employs a deletion program known as "Yuggoth." In Lovecraft's stories, Yuggoth is the name given to the planet Pluto. It crops up again in Grani's attack, "Yuggoth Blaster."
The Japanese name for the Hypnos-created Juggernaut program is "Shaggai." In the Cthulhu mythos, Shaggai is another planet outside of Earth's solar system.
In 3.44, "The Messenger," we briefly see a professor from Miscatonic University. Miscatonic Univeristy, located in Massachusetts, featured heavily in Lovecraft's stories, as a place where many bizarre things happen.
Digimon writer Jeff Nimoy slipped a
subtle reference to the classic 1960's American sitcom, "The
Andy Griffith Show," into the dubbed version of
"Digimon: The Movie."
For starters, the barber in the dubbed movie was named
"Floyd," for the barber of the same name who appeared
in "The Andy Griffith Show," as played by Howard
McNear. Nimoy himself performed the role for the movie, emulating
McNear.
Secondly, though not identified by name in dialogue, the man in
the barber's chair (the one who says "Careful, Floyd! You
almost cut my ear off!") is named "Andy," (it's in
the credits) after Griffith himself. However, this creates a Dub
Error, as the man in the chair is supposed to be the same man who
gives Matt and T.K. a ride on his motorcyle, who the dub already
referred to as "Uncle Al." What can ya do, eh? Notably,
both "Andy" and "Uncle Al" were voiced by
Nimoy's partner, Bob Buchholz.
Even the old couple in Floyd's barber shop are dubbed in as
another reference. They've been named "Aunt Bea" and
"Barney" (not named in dialogue, but in the credits) -
a reference to Aunt Bee Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife from the
show, as played by Francis Bavier and Don Knotts, respectively.
In the movie, Aunt Bea is performed by Anna Garduno, while Barney
is once again played by Nimoy.
Chiaki Konaka is the head writer and director for the "Digimon Tamers" series in Japan. In all of his works - the most famous of which is "Lain" - there are similar threads at play.
Before becoming involved with Tamers, Konaka wrote "His Master's Voice" for 02. In it, he writes of evil creatures emerging from a dark ocean - just like in the "Big O" series, which he also worked on (in that series, he also wrote about "things which man should not know," another Cthulhu mythos reference). And speaking of Cthulhu once more, the anime series "Hellsing" is also rife with references to it... guess who wrote it? Yep, that's right.
In both "Lain" and Tamers, there are three characters named Juri, Reika and Alice (for the uninformed, Juri and Reika are the original Japanese names of Jeri and Riley). Indeed, the Juri character's full name - Juri Katou - is the same in both series'.
Also, there's the notion of a "dead" character. The very first line of "Lain" is something to the tune of: "Last week, a girl in my class commited suicide. She e-mailed me yesterday." While it's not either obvious or officially canon, it's entirely possible that Alice, the gothic granddaughter of Rob "Dolphin" McCoy of the Monster Makers, is dead. Konaka himself noted that after he wrote the script for the episode, he thought it was possible that "Alice had stopped being this world" (poor translation courtesy of Babelfish). He only notes it as a possibility, so it is deliberately ambiguous and up to the viewer to draw their own conclusions. But Dolphin's forlorn stares at Alice's picture do seem to suggest something...
Konaka's website can be viewed HERE.
Within the
Digimon Tamers series, there exist many homages to the famed
anime series, "Neon Genesis Evangelion,"
often hailed as one of the best animes ever made (though truth
told, while it's a good show, it's only really famous
for it's outlandish nature). Be warned that if you have not seen
this series, and plan to, that there are SPOILERS
for several big moments of it below.
The three main stars of the show are simliar.
There's an innocent young boy, thrown into a battle he doesn't
want to fight but knows he has to - Shinji and Takato.
An angry red-haired girl who strives to be the best she can, but
who has family problems and whose past is a troubled one - Asuka
and Rika (though Rika's better off than Asuka,
as Asuka's mother committed suicide). And somewhat more loose of
a connection, a blue-haired, calm and emotive character - Rei
and Henry. 
The character of Hikari is
comparable to Jeri, while Touji
and the nerdy Kensuke are clearly the models for
Kazu and Kenta.
Both WarGrowlmon and Gallantmon Crimson Mode have some of their
physical traits based on Shinji's EVA, EVA-01. Most notably,
WarGrowlmon's jaw armour is identical to EVA-01's mouth, and the
seemingly pointless cable attatched to his back emulates the
umbilical cable that transfers power to all EVAs. Gallantmon
Crimson Mode, meanwhile, has eight glowing wings behind it, 
like EVA-01 generates on
occasion.
Damage done to an EVA unit is felt by the unit's pilot. This is obviously paralleled by the Tamers feeling pain when their Digimon are hurt (which seems to occur more often with Takato).
At one point,
Shinji achieves the unprecedented synchronicity ratio of 400%
with his EVA, combining with it utterly, in much the same way as
the Tamers fuse with their Digimon during the Biomerge
Process. During this, EVA-01 went berserk and consurmed
one of the Angels, internalising and gaining the power of its
Super Solenoid Engine - comparable to the way Digimon gain the
powers of other Digimon by absorbing their data.
Takato's dream sequences (floating Guilmon and
the like) are direct take-offs of Shinji's dream sequences, in
which he sees many of the characters floating in a similar manner
(although his are a lot more obscure than Takato's).
The design aesthetics of the D-Reaper's
Agents are similiar to the enemy characters, the Angels.
Most notably, the Mother D-Reaper looks
quite like Lilith, the second Angel. In the
concluding feature movie, "The End of Evangelion,"
Rei joins with Lillth, and Lilth's mask falls off, revealing
Rei's face - somewhat similar to the giant Jeri head appearing in
the Mother D-Reaper, while Jeri herself is within it. The
Agents are also connected to the main D-Reaper chaos by a cable
which sustains them - the same way that EVAs are connected to an
external power source by their umbilical cable.
At one point in the series, an Angel takes the form of a human -
Kaowru (left) - to infiltrate the children - comparable
to the D-Reaper's assuming Jeri's form. He was
somewhat nicer than the Reaper, though.
Asuka eventually goes catatonic, as a result of an Angel's psychic attack, which causes her to relive her mother's suicide. This is paralleled by the Jeri clone's treatment of Takato (though not as severe), and also by Jeri's experiences within the D-Reaper's Kernel Sphere, when she sees her dead mother again.
Most
everyone knows that the design of Renamon is
based on that of a Kitsune, a mythical Japanese
fox spirit (right). Indeed, in the original Japanese version of
3.25, "The Journey Begins," Rika's Grandmother believed
that Renamon *was* a Kitsune. However, there's more to it than
meets the eye, as several of Renamon's powers, actions and traits
have their roots in the Kitsune mythology.
Kitsune are "thaumavores" - eaters of energy. They draw energy from other beings to feed themselves, draining the other being. This is mirrored by Renamon's absorbing data from her foes. A Kitsune can form a bond with a human, and they will be able to share their energies. A lot of the time, humans didn't want this connection. This is reflected by Rika's distancing herself from Renamon early in the series, but when she and Rika reconcile their differences and their bond strengthens, Renamon no longer needs to absorb data from other Digimon.
In 3.16, "Back to Nature, Back to Battle," Rika gives Renamon an energy drink, and Renamon happily remarks that it's her "first gift." While it may seem like nothing, gifts are an important part of the Kitsune legends. In order to stop Kitsune feeding on crop energy, people would offer gifts to them via shrines. The act of giving the gift fills a Kitsune's energy needs, so Rika's gift of an energy drink is both a nod to and pun on this.
Kitsune are said to be very earthly, sensual beings, although some would gain spirituality. If they followed the right rules, they would ascend to heaven. Renamon's following of the rules is reflected by her giving thanks for a meal in 3.44, "The Messenger." Kitsune spirituality is, in general, represented by all of Renamon's Digivolutionary forms, which are a mish-mash of Shintoism, Buddhism and Taoism.
Renamon's ability to fade away is an interpretation of a Kitsune's power to fold space, and create interdimensional pockets for them to travel through.
Thanks to Andromon X, Argemon, Ben-San Arizona, Steve Blum, Fenrir X, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Christopher Miller, Minarvia, Hannah Parvin, Settou, SirSTACK, Dave Wittenberg, and especially AndyTaft/Andy00.
