Doraemon is a popular Japanese manga and anime series created by Fujiko F. Fujio and published by Shogakukan and TV Asahi.
In North America, Viz Media is the master licensor for the series, [citation needed] but like all other Fujiko Fujio properties, it never had an English release.
[citation needed] But, due to the large amount of crude humor, and perverted moments that would have to be censored (one example being the numerous bath scenes featuring the female character, Shizuka), the license was eventually removed.
[citation needed] The 1979 series had a first distribution attempt by Everest Video in the late 1980s, but the acquisition did not materialize due to the high cost of license at that time.
[citation needed] In 2014, Sato Company in association with Rose Entertainment from Mexico, distributed the 2005 series under the Doraemon, O Gato do Futuro Portuguese title.
A Latin American Spanish dub produced in Mexico under the Doraemon, el gato cósmico Spain's title has been distributed in most countries.
Disney India was banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh due to the non-availability of English and local dubs of content including Doraemon.
Later on, a Bengali dub was brought by Ddhoni Chitra Ltd. for episodes of the 1979 anime and has been airing on the cable channel Asian TV since 1 April 2014.
From 2003 Italia 1 started airing most of the 1979 series with a new dub and the theme song titled Doraemon, sung by Cristina D'Avena, enjoying massive success.