Doraemon started out as a manga series created by Fujiko F. Fujio. In 1973, Nippon Television produced an anime based on the manga; however, this anime didn't last long, because it didn't catch on with the Japanese audience. Six years later, TV Asahi began producing another anime version of Doraemon. This new anime program became very popular, and ended up running until March 25, 2005; at the end of its run, 1,049 episodes had been produced. The celebrate Doraemon's anniversary, a new series began airing on April 15, 2005; this new series featured new voice actors and staff, as well as updated character designs.

The series is about a robotic cat named Doraemon. He travels back in time to from the 22nd century to help a fourth grade schoolboy named Nobita Nobi. Doraemon is sent back in time by Sewashi, who is Nobita's great-great grandson. Before sending Doraemon back, Nobita's failures left his family line with financial problems. So, Sewashi sends Doraemon in the hopes that he can help improves Nobita's chances, so his descendants can enjoy a better future. When Doraemon is with Nobita, he can produce a futuristic gadget out of his pocket to help Nobita fix whatever problem he is dealing with. Unfortunately, Nobita tends to go too far, and ultimately gets into more trouble than before. Sometimes, Nobita's friends steal the gadgets and end up misusing them.

Besides Doraemon and Nobita, other characters include: Shizuka (the smart and pretty girl that Nobita has a crush on), Takeshi (the neighborhood bully that is known by his nickname of "Gian," which is taken from the English word, "giant"), Suneo (a rich kid that likes to flaunt his wealth, and is also Gian's lackey), and Dorami (Doraemon's younger sister that lives in the 22nd century with Sewashi; sometimes, she visits Nobita with a time machine when Doraemon is "off duty").

Many episodes of Doraemon are comedies that include a moral lesson, such as honesty, perseverance, and courage. Other topics that have been covered include homeless animals, endangered species, deforestation, pollution, dinosaurs, Gulliver's Travels, and the history of Japan.

In 1980, Toho began releasing a yearly feature-length animated Doraemon film. Doraemon has also been the star of several videos games in Japan over the years. In 2008, there was even a musical produced in Japan based on the 1990 film, Nobita and the Animal Planet.

Doraemon is considered a cultural icon in Japan. On April 22, 2002, he was voted one of the 22 Asian Heroes by Time Asia magazine. He has also been appointed as the first "anime ambassador" for Japan.

Title	Episodes	Release Year(s)	Director	Studio	N.A. Licensor
Doraemon	26	1973	?	Tokyo Movie Shinsha	N/A
Doraemon	1787	1979-2005	Tsutomu Shibayama	Asatsu DK/Shin'ei Doga	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur	N/A	1980	Hiroshi Fukutomi	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita no Uchu Kaitakushi	N/A	1981	Hideo Nishimaki	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: What Am I for Momotaro	N/A	1981	Takeyuki Kanda	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Great Demon	N/A	1982	Hideo Nishimaki	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Monstrous Underwater Castle	N/A	1983	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Great Adventure in the World of Magic	N/A	1984	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Little "Star Wars"	N/A	1985	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita and the Platoon of Iron Men	N/A	1986	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita and the Dragon Rider	N/A	1987	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Version of Saiyuki	N/A	1988	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita at the Birth of Japan	N/A	1989	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Dorami-chan: Mini Dora SOS	N/A	1989	Makoto Moriwaki	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Animal Planet	N/A	1990	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita in Dorabian Nights	N/A	1991	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Dorami-chan: Wow, the Kid Gang of Bandits	N/A	1991	Keiichi Hara	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita to Kumo no Okoku	N/A	1992	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Tin-Plate Labyrinth	N/A	1993	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Dorami-chan: Hello, Dynosis Kids!!	N/A	1993	Keiichi Hara	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Fantastical Three Musketeers	N/A	1994	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Dorami-chan: A Blue Straw Hat	N/A	1994	Toshihiko Ando	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
2112: The Birth of Doraemon	N/A	1995	Ryouchi Maiya	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Genesis Diary	N/A	1995	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Galactic Express	N/A	1996	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Dorami & Doraemons: Robot School's Seven Mysteries	N/A	1996	Ryouchi Maiya	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Adventure in Clockwork City	N/A	1997	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
The Doraemons: The Mysterious Thief Dorapan The Mysterious Cartel	N/A	1997	Ryouchi Maiya	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Doraemon Comes Back	N/A	1998	Susumu Watanabe	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's South Sea Adventure	N/A	1998	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
The Doraemons: The Great Operation of Springing Insects	N/A	1998	?	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita Gets Lost in Space	N/A	1999	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's the Night Before a Wedding	N/A	1999	Susumu Watanabe	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
The Doraemons: Strange, Sweets, Strange?	N/A	1999	Ryouchi Maiya	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita and the Legend of the Sun King	N/A	2000	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Obachan no Omoide	N/A	2000	Susumu Watanabe	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
The Doraemons: Doki Doki Wildcat Engine	N/A	2000	Hiroshi Nishikiori	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Ganbare! Gian!!	N/A	2001	Susumu Watanabe	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Winged Heroes	N/A	2001	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Dorami & Doraemons: Space Land's Critical Event	N/A	2001	Hiroshi Nishikiori	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Boku no Umareta Hi	N/A	2002	Susumu Watanabe	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita & Robot Kingdom	N/A	2002	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
The Doraemons: Goal! Goal! Goal!	N/A	2002	Tetsuo Yasumi	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita and the Strange Wind Rider	N/A	2003	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita's Wannyan Space-Time Legend	N/A	2004	Tsutomu Shibayama	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon	312	2005-ongoing	Kozo Kusuba	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita no Kyoryu	N/A	2006	Kozo Kusuba	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita no Shin Makai Daiboken – Shichinin no Mahotsukai	N/A	2007	Kozo Kusuba	Shin-Ei/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita to Midori no Kyojin Den	N/A	2008	Kozo Kusuba	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Uchu Kaitakushi	N/A	2009	Kozo Kusuba	Asatsu DK/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita no Ningyo Daikaisen	N/A	2010	Kozo Kuzuha	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Shin Nobita to Tetsujin Heidan – Habatake Tenshi-tachi	N/A	2011	Yukiyo Teramoto	Shin-Ei Animation	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita to Kiseki no Shima ~Animal Adventure~	N/A	2012	Kozo Kuzuha	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A
Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dogu Museum	N/A	2013	Yukiyo Teramoto	Shin-Ei Animation/Shogakukan Productions Co., Ltd.	N/A