Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur

Suneo finds a dinosaur fossil and shows it to everyone except Nobita. Angry, Nobita makes a bet: he will find a real dinosaur. He digs into a hillside and finds an egg. The egg hatches and out comes a small marine reptile. Nobita names him Piisuke and raises him. But as the animal grows he can no longer be hidden in the city, and Nobita and Doraemon must take him back to the time he belongs to. Hiroshi Fukutomi's film is the first Doraemon feature. Fujiko Fujio, the creator of the manga, wrote the screenplay. The narrative leaves the episodic structure of the series and becomes a journey story, which set the template for the films that followed. The emotional axis of the film is separation: loving an animal and having to let it go. It was the highest-grossing Japanese animated film of 1980. Who it's for: Doraemon viewers, and anyone who likes children's adventure animation and time-travel stories. Who it's not for: The animation is plain even for its period. The narrative also stays simple for an adult viewer.