is a Japanese anime television series based on Fujiko F. Fujio's manga of the same name and the successor to the original 1973 anime series. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation, Asatsu-DK and TV Asahi, Doraemon premiered in Japan on April 2, 1979, and has been dubbed for broadcast in 60 countries worldwide. The series lasted 26 years and had over 1,787 episodes and 30 specials, making it the longest of the three animated shows created to date. This Doraemon anime series is sometimes referred to in Asia as the Ōyama Edition (大山版), after Nobuyo Ōyama, the voice actress who voices Doraemon in this series.
Two official English dubs of this anime series have been released, the first of which was called The Adventures of Albert and Sidney, which was produced in Canada by CINAR and aired exclusively in Barbados on CBC TV 8 during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the United States, the series was planned to air on Superstation WTBS, now known as TBS, but would never premiere for unknown reasons. The second dub was made in Singapore and aired on Channel i & Kids Central from 2002 to 2003 in Singapore. Additionally, an unofficial bootleg English dub by Speedy Video was produced and released exclusively in Malaysia on various VCDs.
Premise The series follows the titular character, a cat-like robot from the 22nd century who travels to the present day to help an uneducated, naïve, and clumsy 10-year-old elementary school boy named Nobita Nobi to guide him in the proper direction for his future. Nobita's friends include Shizuka Minamoto, his closest friend and love interest, as well as Takeshi "Gian" Gōda and Suneo Honekawa, who, while sometimes kind, frequently abuse and bully him. A typical episode of the series involves Nobita asking Doraemon for a gadget (usually to help him with a personal task or to get back at Gian and Suneo). Normally, these gadgets end up causing chaos for Nobita and those around him.
Cast and characters
CharacterVoice actorRef(s)JapaneseEnglish(CINAR)English(Singapore)Doraemon (Albert)Nobuyo ŌyamaA.J. HendersonHossan LeongNobita Nobi (Sidney)Noriko OharaSteven BednarskiDenise TanSuneo Honekawa (Ricky)Kaneta KimotsukiHossan LeongTakeshi "Gian" Gōda (Buster)Kazuya TatekabeGerald ChewShizuka Minamoto (Lucy)Michiko NomuraAlison DarcyDenise TanDoramiKeiko YokozawaN/A
Production and broadcast Following the finale of the 1973 series, the rights to the Doraemon manga were lost, as Nippon TeleMovie Productions, the production studio of the 1973 series, shut down the same day on the broadcast of the show's final episode. However, Daikichirō Kusube gained the author's trust and secured the rights to Tokyo Movie, a production firm where he was in charge of sales at the time.
In late 1976, the rights were transferred to Shin-Ei Animation as Tokyo Movie parted ways with Kusube which led to the latter becoming Tokyo Movie Shinsha. In late 1977, Kusube requested one out of two of the creators of Doraemon, Hiroshi Fujimoto, for permission to produce another anime series based on the manga.
Isao Takahata, whom Kusube had asked to do, prepared a proposal and submitted it to Fujimoto, who agreed with the plan. Shin-Ei Animation originally began selling the rights to Yomiuri TV, where Juichi Sano produced a full-scale proposal, but the idea failed due to a lack of understanding among the station's upper management and were later transferred to advertising agency Asatsu. Doraemon first began airing in Japan on TV Asahi on April 2, 1979. +Broadcast time for Doraemon (1979)Television networkBroadcast date and timeJapanTV AsahiMonday to Saturday, 18:50 - 19:00 JSTFriday, 5:00 - 5:30 JSTFriday, 18:50 - 19:20 JSTFriday 19:00 - 19:30 JST
Episodes
Music Opening themes The opening theme used for the weekly Doraemon series airing between 1979 and 2005 was , which was performed by five different performers over the course of its years:
Performer Starting date Starting episode Ending date Ending episode 1. April 2, 1979 Episode 1 October 2, 1992 episode 1199 2. October 9, 1992 Episode 1200 September 20, 2002 episode 1681 3. October 4, 2002 episode 1682 April 11, 2003 episode 1705 4. April 18, 2003 episode 1706 April 23, 2004 episode 1752 5. AJI April 30, 2004 episode 1753 March 18, 2005 episode 1787
Two songs were used for a separate weekday Doraemon series which is a part of Fujiko Fujio Theater (藤子不二雄劇場, Fujiko Fujio Gekijoo), the first song being the same as the first song of the weekly series.
Name Song title Starting date Starting episode Ending date Ending episode 1. April 2, 1979 episode 1 September 29, 1979 episode 156 2. October 1, 1979 episode 157 September 23, 1981 episode 617
Ending themes The ending themes used for the weekly Doraemon series airing between 1979 and 2005 were:
Song title Performer Starting date Starting episode Ending date Ending episode 1. April 2, 1979 episode 1 September 23, 1981 episode 617 2. October 1, 1981 episode 618 March 30, 1984 episode 757 3. November 18, 1983 episode 738 December 30, 1983 episode 744 4. April 6, 1984 episode 758 April 8, 1988 episode 971 5. April 15, 1988 episode 972 October 2, 1992 episode 1199 6. October 9, 1992 episode 1200 April 7, 1995 episode 1346 7. April 14, 1995 episode 1347 September 20, 2002 episode 1681 8. October 4, 2002 episode 1682 April 11, 2003 episode 1705 9. April 18, 2003 episode 1706 October 3, 2003 episode 1729 10. October 10, 2003 episode 1730 May 28, 2004 episode 1757 11. June 4, 2004 episode 1758 March 18, 2005 episode 1787
Three songs were used for the separate weekday Doraemon series. The start and end dates are not listed here, nor are the episodes they ran for.
Song title Performer 1. 2. 3.
Notes
References
External links Doraemon at TV Asahi