In the Time Asia poll of Asian Heroes for 2002, he came out equal with Jackie Chan (
Doraemon is part of the childhoods of many Taiwanese now in their 20s and 30s, and despite the simplistic drawing style, which looks eons behind the phantasmagoria of Hollywood animation, retains its appeal for a new generation of children. The film hit the top of the box office for summer holiday screenings in Japan and Hong Kong and looks poised to do equally good business if the buzz on Internet sites is anything to go by -- and the postings are not being made by children either.
PHOTO: UIP
For those not in the know, Doraemon was born on Sept. 3, 2112, is 129.3cm tall, has a waist measurement of 129.3cm and weighs 129.3kg. He has a magic pouch in his stomach where all kinds of futuristic devices are stored. The only problem is that most of these devices don't work very well. Obviously anyone who has problems programming the VCR will sympathize with this character. His best friend is Nobita, a young knucklehead constantly being bullied by his classmates.
Like most of the great children's stories, wherever they might derive from, there is a story behind the story of the two-man team that made up Fujiko Fujio, the front man for the cartoon. While the early stories were set in suburban Japan, Doraemon is setting out on bigger and better adventures suited to the big screen.
In Doraemon, Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King the two main characters go through a "hole in time" and find themselves in a Mayan kingdom where there is intrigue over the royal succession, giving Doraemon the chance to utilize favorite devices such as the takekoputa (a rotor worn on the head, one of the truly inspired Doraemon merchandizing products) and the dokodemo door, which allows Nobita and Doraemon to go anywhere they want. This bigger setting doesn't seem to have affected the essential simplicity of the story and the attractiveness of the characters.
The perennial appeal of this character, according to Pico Iyer, travel writer and social commentator, is attributable to Doraemon's perennial optimism that undermines the dark images of a technological future. The doings of Doraemon and Nobita, because of their klutzy ineptitude, comfort us in the face of an overwhelming complexity of modern living, and so Doraemon takes his place among a pantheon of characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Scooby Doo, whom people never completely grow out of.
For those who don't mind the press of weekend crowds of school children, Doraemon, Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King is probably as good a window into the Asian psyche as you are likely to find in the cinemas this summer.
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