Doraemon (character) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Doraemon
Doraemon character
Doraemon as depicted in a major portion of the series
First appearance	15 December 1969
Created by	Fujiko F. Fujio
Portrayed by	Jean Reno Bruce Willis
Voiced by	Kōsei Tomita (1973–1974, 1976) Masako Nozawa (1973–1974, 1976) Nobuyo Ōyama (1979–2005) Kazue Takahashi (1980, yellow) Chisa Yokoyama (1995, yellow) Wasabi Mizuta (2005–present) English A.J. Henderson (1985-1996) Hossan Leong (2002-2003) Mona Marshall (2014-2015, 2021, US dub) Sarah Hauser (2015-2016, UK dub)
Age (in the story)	10 (First appearance) 11 (Current)
Information
Aliases	MS-903 Albert (CINAR dub)
Species	Robot cat
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Nobi family
Relatives	Dorami (sister)
Birthday	September 3, 2112
Hometown	Tokyo

Doraemon (Japanese: ドラえもん) is a friendly robot cat from a popular Japanese manga and anime series. He was created by Fujiko F. Fujio. Doraemon travels back in time from the 22nd century. His mission is to help a young boy named Nobita.

Doraemon's official birthday is September 3, 2112. His hometown is listed as Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan. In 2008, the Japanese government even made Doraemon an "anime ambassador."

How Doraemon Was Created

The idea for Doraemon came from Hiroshi Fujimoto, one of the creators. He had three main inspirations. First, he wished for a machine to help him think of new manga ideas. Second, he accidentally tripped over his daughter's toy. Third, he heard cats fighting outside his home.

The name "Doraemon" means something like "stray." The name is written using two Japanese writing styles: Katakana (ドラ) and Hiragana (えもん). "Dora" comes from "dora neko," which means "stray cat." The "-emon" part is an old-fashioned ending for male names in Japan.

What Doraemon Looks Like

Doraemon's look changed a bit over time in the manga. At first, he was mostly a kingfisher blue color. He had a blue tail, a white stomach, and flesh-colored hands and feet. His body was also bigger than his head.

Later, he became smaller with white hands and feet and a red tail. This is the look most people know today. In some stories, it's shown that Doraemon was originally yellow. He turned blue after a robot mouse ate his ears. This made him very sad, and he accidentally drank a "sadness" potion. The potion washed off his yellow paint and changed his voice. Because of this, Doraemon is now very afraid of mice! He also gets upset when people mistake him for a raccoon dog because he doesn't have ears.

Doraemon's Robot Features

Doraemon is considered a "substandard" robot. Many of his special robot parts, like his radar whiskers and cat-calling bell, didn't work right. This happened because of an accident when he was being built in the factory.

Because of these problems, Doraemon didn't do well in robot school. No one wanted to hire him after his final presentation. But a baby named Sewashi chose him, and Doraemon became his caretaker. Later, Sewashi sent Doraemon back in time to help Nobita. Even with his malfunctions, Doraemon is very smart and has good common sense.

Doraemon's favorite food is dorayaki (どら焼き). This is a Japanese sweet filled with red bean paste. In some English versions, it's called "fudgy pudgy pie" or "yummy buns."

Doraemon's Adventures

Helping Nobita

Doraemon is sent back in time by Sewashi Nobi, Nobita's great-great-grandson. Sewashi wants Doraemon to help Nobita have a better future. In the original timeline, Nobita had a lot of bad luck and problems. This led to financial troubles for his family in the future.

To change history, Sewashi wanted to send a super-robot. But he could only afford Doraemon, who was an imperfect robot cat. Doraemon was made on September 3, 2112, at the Matsushiba Robot Factory (マツシバ • ロボット • 工場).

Doraemon has a special fourth-dimensional pocket (四次元ポケット) on his stomach. From this pocket, he can pull out all sorts of amazing gadgets from the future! These gadgets help Nobita with his problems, though sometimes they cause new ones.

Doraemon in Other Places

Doraemon has become very famous around the world. French actor Jean Reno played Doraemon in some live-action TV commercials for Toyota between 2011 and 2016. These ads showed the characters as grown-ups.

Doraemon also appeared at the 2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Tokyo. He was part of a video showcase with other famous Japanese characters like Pac-Man and Hello Kitty. In the video, he helped Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe (who was dressed as Mario) by creating a Warp Pipe. This pipe helped Mario get from Shibuya Crossing to the Maracanã Stadium in Brazil.

Images for kids

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  A robot for kids.