Doraemon (1979 TV series)

Doraemon (ドラえもん, Doraemon) is a Japanese anime television series based on Fujiko F. Fujio's manga of the same name and is the successor of the 1973 anime. 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 1787 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.^[1]

Doraemon
Logo
ドラえもん
Created by	Fujiko F. Fujio
Based on	Doraemon by Fujiko F. Fujio
Theme music composer	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Composer	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of seasons	26
No. of episodes	1787 and 30 specials
Production
Running time	6–23 minutes
Production companies	TV Asahi Asatsu-DK[a] Shin-Ei Animation
Original release
Network	ANN (TV Asahi)
Release	April 2, 1979 (1979-04-02) – March 18, 2005 (2005-03-18)
Related
1973 anime 2005 anime

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^[2] 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^[3] 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 title character, a cat-like robot from the 22nd century that goes to the present day to deal with an uneducated, naïve, and clumsy 10-year-old elementary school boy named Nobita Nobi and guide him in the proper direction for his future. Nobita's friends include Shizuka Minamoto, his love interest and closest best friend, as well as Takeshi Goda and Suneo Honekawa, who, while sometimes kind, frequently abuse and bully him. A typical episode involves Nobita asking Doraemon for a gadget (usually to help him with a task or get back at Gian and Suneo). Normally, these gadgets end up causing chaos for Nobita and those around him.

Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Suneo, and Gian as seen in the 1979-2005 series.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Doraemon characters

Doraemon (1979-2005) cast

Voice		Character	Ref(s)
Japanese	English
Nobuyo Ōyama	A.J. Henderson	Doraemon (Albert)	[4][5][6]
Noriko Ohara	Steven Bednarski	Nobita Nobi (Sidney)	[7]
Kaneta Kimotsuki	Hossan Leong	Suneo Honekawa (Ricky)	[8][9]
Kazuya Tatekabe	Gerald Chew	Takeshi "Gian" Goda (Buster)	[10][11]
Michiko Nomura	Alison Darcy	Shizuka Minamoto (Lucy)	[12]
Keiko Yokozawa	TBA	Dorami	[13]

Production and broadcasting

Following the finale of the 1973 anime, the rights to the Doraemon manga were lost as Nippon TeleMovie Productions, who produced the 1973 anime, shut down on the same day as the show's series finale. 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. Later on, 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 based on the manga.

Isao Takahata, whom Kusube had asked to do, prepared a proposal and subsequently submitted it to Fujimoto, who agreed with the plan. Shin-Ei Animation originally began selling the rights to Yomiuri Television, where Juichi Sano produced a full-scale proposal, but the idea failed due to a lack of understanding among the station's upper management. Doraemon first began airing in Japan on TV Asahi on April 2, 1979.^[14]

Broadcast time for Doraemon (1979)

Television network	Broadcast date and time
Japan
TV Asahi	Monday to Saturday, 18:50 - 19:00 JST
	Friday, 5:00 - 5:30 JST
	Friday, 18:50 - 19:20 JST
	Friday 19:00 - 19:30 JST

Casting

Episodes

Main article: List of Doraemon (1979 TV series) episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released
1	234		April 2, 1979 (1979-04-02)	December 31, 1979 (1979-12-31)
2	255		January 1, 1980 (1980-01-01)	December 30, 1980 (1980-12-30)
3	151		January 5, 1981 (1981-01-05)	December 25, 1981 (1981-12-25)
4	48		January 1, 1982 (1982-01-01)	December 24, 1982 (1982-12-24)
5	51		January 1, 1983 (1983-01-01)	December 30, 1983 (1983-12-30)
6	50		January 1, 1984 (1984-01-01)	December 28, 1984 (1984-12-28)
7	51		January 1, 1985 (1985-01-01)	December 27, 1985 (1985-12-27)
8	49		January 3, 1986 (1986-01-03)	December 26, 1986 (1986-12-26)
9	59		January 2, 1987 (1987-01-02)	December 26, 1987 (1987-12-26)

Music

Opening themes

The opening theme used for the weekly Doraemon series airing between 1979 and 2005 was Doraemon no Uta (ドラえもんのうた), which was performed by five different performers over the course of its years:

	Performer	Starting date	Starting episode	Ending date	Ending episode
1.	Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子)	April 2, 1979	Episode 1	October 2, 1992	episode 1199
2.	Satoko Yamano (山野さと子)	October 9, 1992	Episode 1200	September 20, 2002	episode 1681
3.	Tokyo Purin (東京プリン)	October 4, 2002	episode 1682	April 11, 2003	episode 1705
4.	Misato Watanabe (渡辺美里)	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.	Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子)	"Doraemon no Uta" (ドラえもんのうた)	April 2, 1979	episode 1	September 29, 1979	episode 156
2.	Nobuyo Oyama, Koorogi '73 (大山のぶ代, こおろぎ'73)	"Boku Doraemon" (ぼくドラえもん)	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.	"Aoi Sora wa Pocket sa" (青い空はポケットさ)	Kumiko Ōsugi (大杉久美子)	April 2, 1979	episode 1	September 23, 1981	episode 617
2.	"Maru-gao no Uta" (まる顔のうた)	Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代)	October 1, 1981	episode 618	March 30, 1984	episode 757
3.	"Santa Claus wa Doko no Hito" (サンタクロースはどこのひと)	Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代)	November 18, 1983	episode 738	December 30, 1983	episode 744
4.	"Boku-tachi Chikyuu-jin" (ぼくたち地球人)	Mitsuko Horie (堀江美都子)	April 6, 1984	episode 758	April 8, 1988	episode 971
5.	"Aozora-tte Iina" (青空っていいな)	Mitsuko Horie (堀江美都子)	April 15, 1988	episode 972	October 2, 1992	episode 1199
6.	"Ashita mo Tomodachi" (あしたも♥ともだち)	Yui Nishiwaki (にしわきゆい)	October 9, 1992	episode 1200	April 7, 1995	episode 1346
7.	"Boku Doraemon 2112" (ぼくドラえもん2112)	Nobuyo Oyama, Koorogi '73 (大山のぶ代、こおろぎ'73)	April 14, 1995	episode 1347	September 20, 2002	episode 1681
8.	"Mata Aeru Hi Made" (またあえる日まで)	Yuzu (ゆず)	October 4, 2002	episode 1682	April 11, 2003	episode 1705
9.	"Tanpopo no Uta" (タンポポの詩)	The Alfee (ジ・アルフィー)	April 18, 2003	episode 1706	October 3, 2003	episode 1729
10.	"YUME Biyori" (YUME日和)	Hitomi Shimatani (島谷ひとみ)	October 10, 2003	episode 1730	May 28, 2004	episode 1757
11.	"Aa Ii na!" (あぁ いいな!)	W (ダブルユー)	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.	"Doraemon Ekaki-uta" (ドラえもん・えかきうた)	Nobuyo Oyama (大山のぶ代)
2.	"Doraemon Ondo" (ドラえもん音頭)	Nobuyo Oyama, Koorogi '73 (大山のぶ代、こおろぎ'73)
3.	"Dorami-chan Ekaki-uta" (ドラミちゃんのえかきうた)	Keiko Yokozawa (横沢啓子)

Notes

1. Previously co-produced with Asatsu until 1999