Doreamon and his friends.

Say "Doraemon" and everyone will immediately know you are referring to the animated robot cat from the future, the 22nd century specifically, who travels back in time to assist a boy that goes by the name Nobita.

Prior to hitting it big as a cartoon/anime series from 1 April 1973, "Doraemon" was originally a popular comic/manga that was published in December 1969. It has since gained popularity not only in Asia but also all over the world.

Other than comics and cartoon series, "Doraemon" also comes in the form of movies. To date, the franchise has 36 movies, including the upcoming 2015 release "Doraemon The Movie: Nobita And The Space Heroes", which opens in cinemas this 16 July.

Before we get to watch the new movie, let's take a look at some of the "Doraemon" movies that have played on the big screen.

Doraemon and his friends travel to another place and time to send off their humanoid friend, who has fallen sick and has to return to its home. The world the robot lives in is one where mankind and robots alike live side-by-side in peace. However, things turn awry when they find out the queen has ordered all robots to be captured and their emotions be erased, so they may never feel again the way human beings can. Doraemon and the gang cook up a plan to stop the evil queen's mission.

Nobita finds a small creature-like ball of wind and decides to name it Fuuko (Little Wind). Doraemon uses his magical door and takes Fuuko to a wide, vacant space so they can play around freely with the little wind. As it turns out, Doraemon has taken them to The Wind Village, the place where Fuuko originated from. Uranda, the evil chief of Ran, returns from the dead with plans to dominate the world. Fuuko teams up with Nobita and Doraemon to save the world together.

When Nobita saves a drowning puppy while he is playing by the riverside, he decides to keep it and names it Ichi. The next day, Nobita saves a group of stray dogs and even a cat. To avoid being found out by his mother, Nobita and Doraemon take the animals to sometime in the past to provide them with their own place to live. Nobita teaches Ichi to use the food-making machine so the pack will never be short of food. He promises to meet Ichi the next day, but his plans change when he and Doraemon stumble onto a time space anomaly and they are thrown into another timeline.

Nobita is digging when he discovers a fossilised egg. With the help of Doraemon's gadgets, they are able to revert it to its original form, which is a dinosaur egg. After it hatches, Nobita takes care of the little dinosaur until it eventually grows too big to fit in the house. They decide to send it back to its proper era but once there, they find out hunters from the future have come to hunt down the dinosaurs. Worried for his pet dinosaur's safety, Nobita and his friends go back in time to take down the hunters and stop the hunts.

Nobita asks Doraemon to use the Wish-granting Telephone Booth to turn the world into one where magic prevails. Magic then replaces science and technology in everyday life. Unfortunately for Nobita, he is no better at handling magic than he was with maths. So he wishes to turn the world back to its normal way but finds out in dismay that his mother has thrown the magical phone booth away.

Nobita finds a small tree at a dump near the hill. Feeling sorry for it, he saves it and uses Doraemon's gadget to give it the ability to move around freely. He names the little tree Kibo. However, aliens from the Green Planet want to punish Earth dwellers as they perceive humans as destroyers of nature and plants.

Doraemon uses his gadget to pump all the seawater into Tokyo. The gang then has a fun time diving under the sea. However, dangerous fishes, such as sharks, also get pumped into Tokyo along with the water. The next day, Nobita spots a fish tail among the trees but what emerges from behind them is a girl instead. The gang soon learns her name is Sophia and she is a mermaid.

Feeling envious of Suneo's toy robot, Nobita asks Doraemon to build him a better one but Doraemon refuses. When Nobita later stumbles upon robot parts that mysteriously fall out of the sky, he wastes no time in taking the pieces and putting them together. Once fully assembled, the end result is a giant robot called Zanda Claus! He and the gang later find out it is no ordinary robot, but is a highly powerful and dangerous weapon to be used against the incoming Robot Army that plans to attack Earth and enslave humans. The attack is near but another surprise appeared – a mysterious girl named Riruru who is looking for Zanda.

This 3D animated movie takes the plot from "All the Way From the Country of the Future", "Imprinting Egg", "Goodbye, Shizuka-chan", "Romance in Snowy Mountain", "Nobita's the night Before a Wedding" and "Goodbye, Doraemon..." and combines all into a new story that tells of Doraemon and Nobita's first encounter up until their last farewell.

In the upcoming movie, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian and Suneo travel to space to fight with monsters. Each one of them is granted with a super power - Doraemon with super punch, Nobita with a cat`s cradle move, Shizuka with the power to control water, Gian with super strength and Suneo with a powerful drill on his arm.