Doraemon: The Secret Gadget Museum

Doraemon: Secret Gadget Museum (Japanese: ドラえもん：映画：秘密ガジェット博物館の驚異と秘密 Hepburn: Doraemon: Eiga: Himitsu gajetto hakubutsukan no kyōi to himitsu English: Doraemon: Nobita and the Mysteries of the Secret Gadget Museum) is a Japanese/British/American 2D animated/ live action comedy adventure film based on the Japanese franchise Doraemon by Fujio F. Fujiko, but is mostly based on the 1979 anime adaption. It is distributed by Toho in Japan while it was distributed by Destination Films and Miramax Films for it's English dub. This film received a negative reception and bombed at the box office. This film stars Jillian Michaels, Rob Rackstraw, Neil Crone, Steven Kynman, Brian Dobson, Michael Dobson, Brian Drummond, Laura Drummond, Len Carlson, Gideon Emery, Alyson Court, Richard Nicholls, David Tennant, and Michael Coleman. This film got released on June 12, 2001 in Japan while it got released with an English dub on June 14, 2002 in the UK, June 28, 2002 in the US, and April 5, 2003 in Australia and New Zealand. This film was later remade in 2013, but took out the live-action scenes and had many differences.

Plot
Giant, Zippy, and Violet are about to go to a cool science museum. Unfortunately, Nobu couldn't come with. Nobu begs Doraemon to help him, but Doraemon is sick and tired of all the dependence Nobu needs on him. One night, Doraemon sneakily sends a lot of kids out in his Anywhere Door to see a cool museum called the Secret Gadget Museum. Soon, one of Doraemon's gadgets, Blowback Bobby, wants revenge and teams up with two idiotic, talking Mini-Doraemons named Francis and Bum-Bum to stop Doraemon and the kids. Will Doraemon and the kids stop Blowback Bobby, or will time run out?

Voice Cast
Jillian Michaels as Doraemon/Sammy (voice)

Rob Rackstraw as Nobu/Zippy/Big Benny (voice)

Steven Kynman as Saban/Pierre/Kenny (voice)

Brian Dobson as Sobu/Blowback Bobby/Francis (voice)

Michael Dobson as Bum-Bum/Kyle (voice)

Brian Drummond as James/Zippy's father (voice)

Laura Drummond as Zippy's mother/ Violet's mother/ Giant's mother (voice)

Len Carlson as Violet's father/ Giant's father (voice)

Gideon Emery as Nobu's father/ Ace's father (voice)

Alyson Court as Nobu's mother/ Ace's mother (voice)

Richard Nicholls as Ace Perfect/Voiceover Instructor (voice)

Michael Coleman as Angus/Tommy/Nobisuke (voice)

Live Action Cast
David Tennant as Stan, a lazy, clumsy, selfish, nonsense, mischievous, and fun-loving assistant to Doraemon, Nobu, and the kids. He talks nonsense and speaks in a British accent.

Michael Dobson as Dr. Doom, a deleted character and the original main antagonist of this film.

Problems and Changes
The reason for the box-office bomb of this movie is because it was heavily edited (original Japanese version included) after a test screening in Japan. There was a deleted live-action character named Mr. Doom, played by Michael Dobson, who also voiced Bum-Bum. He was the one who wanted to destroy the Secret Gadget Museum, not Blowback Bobby, like in the final cut. Stan also originally died at the climax of the film, instead of surviving in the final cut. The Dr. Doom character and Stan's death scene were deleted due to complaints of parents that the character was too scary, and the death scene was too dramatic.

The kids also had different voices done by unknown voice actors and actresses, but it confused the voice directors and made the kids sound a little too old, so they replaced it with the English cast from the 1997-2005 English dub of Doraemon before it was test screened in Japan. Originally, Michael E. Rodgers was going to reprise his role as Nobu, but after the test audience thought his voice for Nobu sounded too whiny and overeacting, his voice was rejected and Nobu's voice was redubbed by Rob Rackstraw, the voice of Zippy.

Premiere
A week before the film debuted in the UK, the film was premiered at Odeon Leicester Square on June 7, 2002. Jillian Michaels, Rob Rackstraw, Steven Kynman, Barry London, Richard Nicholls, and David Tennant attended the premiere, with over 2002 children invited to the screening.

Home Media Release
This film was released on VHS and DVD in 2002 by Tohokushinsha Home Video and Kadokawa Video with an option on Japanese and English audio. It was later rereleased on VHS and DVD in 2004 by Pony Canyon and Shogaukukan Video. In the UK, it was released on VHS and DVD by Columbia/Tri-Star Home Video UK on October 23, 2002. In the US, this film was released by Columbia/Tri-Star Home Video on October 25 2002, but it was later rereleased on VHS and DVD on July 26, 2004 by Miramax and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Reception
This film was panned by critics in Japan and the UK, due to the edits, animation, voice acting, and acting. In the US, it contained better reception, but it still was panned. It got a 4.5/10 rating in IMDB and a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, this film had a "30", meaning "generally unfavorable reviews". Some critics call this film "a misjudgment", "a nasty film", "the Doraemon franchise going downhill", and "one of the worst anime films of 2002".

Box Office
In Japan, the UK, and the US, this film got a box office bomb. This film only earned $5 million from its $25 million budget.

2013 Remake
A Japanese-only remake of this film was release on March 2013. The remake is called "Doraemon: Nobita and the Secret Gadget Museum". Unlike the 2002 film, this film takes out the live-action scenes and had an entirely different plot.

Trivia
This film's teaser trailer was actually a Japanese promotional trailer that was included on a Japanese Doraemon VHS from 2000.

This film aired on Carlton Cinema on February 22, 2003, while it aired on Fox Kids UK and Ireland on July 24 2004, and reaired on the same channel one day before it turned into Jetix UK and Ireland.

This film aired on PBS Kids Sprout on June 24, 2015 as part of "Sprout's Summer Movie Night", but it had low ratings due to young children not getting interested in this film and getting easily bored.

This film is based on the 1997-2005 English dub of Doraemon.

The composer of this film later on recreated the music of this film to the 2014 film Stand By Me, Doraemon.

Jillian Michaels and Rob Rackstraw reprised their roles as Doraemon and Nobu in this film.

The voice actress, Laura Drummond, later on voiced Doraemon in the series finale of the 1997-2005 English dub of Doraemon.

The only footage of the uncut version that can be easily found on the internet is the scenes with Blowback Bobby and his sidekicks, the original climax scene with Dr. Doom, and Stan's dramatic death scene near the end of the movie.