theatrical release out of the arthouse circuit to which most foreign toons are confined. In Japan, the pic was released in stereoscopic 3D, and though the Tokyo fest screened it “flat,” that extra dimension could help break a U.S.

That means American kids who’ve been watching “Doraemon” on TV will have no trouble adapting to the movie, which marks another heavyweight collaboration between vfx gurus Takashi Yamazaki and Ryuichi Yagi (pioneers of computer animation in Japan, having previously co-directed 2011’s “Friends: Naki of Monster Island”). Here, the duo upgrade the series’ hand-drawn anime style - all clean lines and bright colors - to a robust CG aesthetic that falls somewhere between Pixar, with its warm, diffuse lighting and gummy skin textures, and “Jimmy Neutron,” whose big-eyed, bobble-headed characters look as though they’ve been pumped full of air. The plot of the feature combines details from several different episodes, while the new dub - overseen by Bang Zoom! Entertainment - features the same (mostly grating) voice actors and Anglo-friendly tweaks developed for the show, including Westernized names for the characters and many of the gadgets the grinning cyber-cat brings with him from the future.

8 - impressive, yet still just half the domestic haul of most Miyazaki toons.įirst unveiled at the Tokyo Film Festival, the English-language version could do surprise biz (especially on homevideo) in the States, where Disney XD helped popularize Doraemon by airing the 2005 anime series this past summer. Attractive to behold, yet bland as a stack of red-bean pancakes, the pic has earned $78 million since its release on Aug. Instantly recognizable with his bubble head and huge half-moon smile, Doraemon is bigger than Big Bird in Japan, where a preschool-targeted computer-animated feature, “Stand by Me Doraemon,” has been a massive hit among fans, reverently rehashing the character’s origin story and most popular adventures. What’s blue and white and read all over? That would be Doraemon, a time-traveling robot cat from the 22nd century who ranks as the all-time most popular comicbook (or manga) character among Japanese kids.

Tema film stans by me doraemon