Here we go, the one that started this impressively long-running film series. The premise of this movie is that the main character Nobita uses one of Doraemon's gadgets to revive the fossilized egg of an extinct marine reptile, a plesiosaur, and keeps the hatchling as a pet.
Looking at the movie poster, it's interesting to see that this film is barely advertised as prehistory-themed. There's a pterosaur on the poster, but it's hardly front and center. In fact, Nobita's plesiosaur, Piisuke, is not even shown. Much could be said about the scientific elements of the movie (as a paleontologist, I'm obligated to point out that Piisuke is not actually a dinosaur), but this is not the website to go on at length about that.
Leaving aside the time travel component and the fact that the pet is an extinct animal, this is a fairly typical "child and their pet" story in many ways. The protagonist brings a new pet into his life, bonds with it by learning to care for it, goes on an extraordinary adventure with the pet by his side, and foils antagonists who want to take the pet away, but ultimately still has to say goodbye to it. It's a popular narrative for a reason, and Nobita's relationship with Piisuke is certainly compelling. As for the other main characters, Nobita's friends-Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo-don't drive the story substantially once the adventure is underway, though they do get enough characterization that they don't feel absent. All in all, this is a decent take on a classic storyline, but it also reads as a relatively "safe" first attempt at a movie for the franchise. The highest of highs in the Doraemon film series are yet to come.
