Doraemon Movie 01: Nobita no Kyouryuu

My overall take: A fine first entry in the Doraemon film series, but not the best of the franchise.

Here we go, the one that started this impressively long-running film series. The premise of this movie is that the main character Nobita uses one of Doraemon's gadgets to revive the fossilized egg of an extinct marine reptile, a plesiosaur, and keeps the hatchling as a pet. Much could be said about the scientific elements of the movie (as a paleontologist, I'm obligated to point out that Piisuke is not actually a dinosaur), but this is not the website to go on at length about that.

Leaving aside ... the time travel component and the fact that the pet is an extinct animal, this is a fairly typical "child and their pet" story in many ways. It's a popular narrative for a reason, and Nobita's relationship with Piisuke is certainly compelling. As for the other main characters, Nobita's friends—Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo—don't drive the story substantially once the adventure is underway, though they do get enough characterization that they don't feel absent. All in all, this is a decent take on a classic storyline, but it also reads as a relatively "safe" first attempt at a movie for the franchise. The highest of highs in the Doraemon film series are yet to come.

Doraemon as a series is nothing but pure, childish joy. Every bit of Doraemon which I have so far seen (which admittedly is not a ton) has filled me with a youthful sense of happiness which I think we can all relate to in some manner. Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur is no exception to this feeling, delivering a positive, educational and exciting film which perfectly caters to everyone.

STORY - (6)
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur unsurprisingly follows the three act structure to a tee. The first act introduces Piisuke, Nobita's pet dinosaur and shows their time growing up together before taking him back to his time; the second act ... sees Nobita, Doraemon and friends going on adventures in the age of the dinosaurs attempting to both rescue Piisuke and return home; the third act concludes with an action-packed fight against the evil dinosaur hunters. Through this structure, the film mixes in both some moments of slice-of-life comedy which the series is often known for, as well as some more action focused moments too. Additionally, the film deals with a variety of relevant topics and acts as an excellent educational piece for children, exploring and showcasing the world of the dinosaurs in an interesting and engaging way on top of demonstrating the evil and cruel nature of animal hunters. While the story was obviously nothing groundbreaking - anyone over the age of six will surely have seen the same plot a thousand times before - it still does a good job of keeping viewers interested and entertained throughout.

ART - (7)
The art of this film is overall well done for the first theatrical release in the series. The world is portrayed in a bright and colourful manner, lending well to the youthful and joyous nature of the film. The animation is also very well done, with the surprisingly large number of action sequences all being smoothly and well animated. As a whole there is little to complain about with the animation; its just there is little to praise it for either.

SOUND - (6)
The sound and music of Doraemon is another pleasant aspect of the film. As with the art and story, there is not anything overly mind-blowing about it - the soundtrack generally follows the typical, jovial orchestral style common to 80s animated films - but again, it does its job in adding to the ambience of the scenes. The film features three songs too: one in the opening credits, one insert song around the midpoint and one sung by Doraemon for the closing credits. Of the three, the first was my personal favourite; the tune was quite catchy, remaining stuck in my head for much of the film's runtime. The second song was much less upbeat, but still suited the situation well. Unfortunately the closing credits theme was much less catchy and wound up being a bit of an ear-bleeding song, albeit one which was intentionally done that way to remain in character. Luckily as it was the closing credits I was at least able to skip that section with ease.

CHARACTER - (5)
There is little to say about the characters of this movie, as the main cast is all there as usual at the front and center. If you have ever seen any other Doraemon episode or movie before you will know what to expect, which certainly is not a bad thing for a theatrical spinoff. Of the new characters to the film, Piisuke (despite being the focus of the movie) has very little personality of his own, largely due to him being unable to speak because he is, well, a dinosaur. The bittersweet ending with him is a little sad to see and does speak to there being some connection developing between him, Nobita and the audience throughout the film, but in the end this bond is really nothing more than a rudimentary level one created through his simple yet cute actions, rather than a deeper or interesting personality of some kind. The villains of the movie are also strikingly one-note; there goal is simply to capture Piisuke and not much more. Of course, these critiques do come across as a little nitpicky for a children's film, though it still would have been nice to get to know the villains just a little bit more.

ENJOYMENT - (6)
All in all, I did have a good time watching Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur. Though there was nothing particularly unique or different about it, I just couldn't help myself from coming to love the simplistic and youthfulness of the film. I'm sure a child would have an even greater time with the film than me, and I would suggest that it would likely be best enjoyed being watched with a child (if only there was a dubbed version), but alas it can still be a fun time being even at an older age.

OVERALL - (6)
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur is a great first entry in what would go on to be an incredibly long and successful film franchise. As a children's film, it can easily be watched and enjoyed by people of all ages, with it's fun yet simple plot making for a good time for all. You don't even need to have any real knowledge of the Doraemon series to enjoy it; as long as you have heard the basic premise of the series you are good to go and watch. So, for all Doraemon fans, people looking to enter the world of Doraemon for the first time, or even for those who are just looking for a short, fun movie to watch - this film comes as a strong recommendation for me.

Thanks for reading!