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Anime Robot Cat Doraemon Enters 3rd Dimension in 1st 3D CG Film

The iconic anime robot cat Doraemon will gain another dimension in Stand By Me Doraemon, his first 3D feature film ever, next summer. The film will celebrate what would have been the 80th birthday of late co-creator Fujiko F. Fujio (Hiroshi Fujimoto). The film will combine computer graphics with stereoscopic 3D projection.

The manga creator duo Fujiko Fujio (Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko) created Doraemon in 1969. In the story, the robotic cat was sent by a boy in the future to the present day to help the boy's hapless grandfather, Nobita. Doraemon, Nobita, and other children deal with everyday childhood issues, solve (and cause) problems with the gadgets in Doraemon's fourth-dimensional pocket, and embark on escapades through time and space.

Takashi Yamazaki (Returner, Always: Sunset on Third Street, Ballad, Space Battleship Yamato) and Ryûichi Yagi (Pénélope tête en l'air line director, Moyashimon 3D CG director) are helming Stand By Me Doraemon after collaborating on Japan's first feature-length 3D CG anime film, Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki.

Planning on Stand By Me Doraemon began three years ago. After completing Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki, the two directors considered making a new project together with the same team. Yamazaki said that the film lets you experience in 3D what it would be like to get your hands on Doraemon's gadgets and do whatever you like. Yagi added that the flying scenes with Doraemon's signature Take-Copter (Bamboo-Copters headpieces) are a must-see.

Character modelling took over a year, and the staff strived for realism in movement and expressions. After the dialogue was recorded, the staff produced the CG animation to match the voices — the opposite of the usual anime film process in Japan, which records dialogue after most of the animation is completed. The film employed techniques that used miniatures and filmed real objects for the backgrounds.

The manga series was compiled into 45 collected volumes before it ended in 1996. The manga inspired three television anime series that have collectively lasted four decades, dozens of television specials, and a string of annual anime films. Fujiko F. Fujio Productions, Japanese multimedia producer Voyager Japan, and translation company AltJapan are releasing the Doraemon manga in English and in full color digitally.

The next 2D film, Eiga Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Daimakyō - Peko to 5-nin no Tankentai (Doraemon the Movie: New Nobita's Great Demon ~Peko and the Exploration Party of Five~), is still slated for March 8:

French film star Jean Reno (Léon: The Professional, Mission: Impossible, The Da Vinci Code) stars as Doraemon himself in a series of live-action television commercials for Toyota. The ad have boasted an all-star cast of Satoshi Tsumabuki (Dororo, Ikebukuro West Gate Park, Smuggler) as Nobita, actress Asami Mizukawa, former NEWS band member Tomohisa Yamashita, mixed martial artist Naoya Ogawa, former AKB48 idol Atsuko Maeda, and Olympic gymnast Kōhei Uchimura.

Source: Sports Nippon