Anime / Doraemon: Nobita's Secret Gadget Museum

The Continuity Cavalcade Movie

Adventures of Doraemon and friends - the Detective Drama edition.

Doraemon: Nobita's Secret Gadget Museum is a 2013 anime film from the Doraemon Film Series.

When Doraemon's prized gadget bell gets stolen one day, clues created by Doraemon's Sherlock Holmes Set reveals the thief to be one Kaitou DX, a Gentleman Thief from the future. After a series of deductions and analysis, the trail leads Doraemon and Nobita - and their friends Shizuka, Suneo and Gian - to the Secret Gadget Museum, a 22nd-Century installation which stores each and every existing gadget in history, including all the tools Doraemon had used in the series, where Kaitou DX will strike next with the intentions of collecting six microchips hidden in six gadgets, Doraemon's bell being one of them.

Upon arrival, the gang inevitably uncovers a larger conspiracy hidden under the museum itself. And that the elusive master thief named Kaitou DX is more than he appears. As well as the revelation behind the backstory of why Doraemon's bell would mean so much to him.

The movie itself contains loads and loads of Call Backs to previous stories, as well as numerous Continuity Cavalcade moments that references the manga directly.

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Doraemon: Nobita's Secret Gadget Museum contain examples of:

• Actually a Doombot: The Kurt Hartman leading Doraemon and friends as a tour guide is actually a fake, created using a Copy Robot gadget. The real Kurt is the mysterious thief called Kaitou DX, with his doppelganger misleading Doraemon and gang.
• Advance Notice Crime: In an installment of the series that pays homage to old-school detective stories, Gentleman Thief Kaitou DX publicly announces his theft before committing them, by leaving behind a name-card with "Kaitou DX" on it, mere moments before he strikes.
• Air-Vent Passageway: How Suneo and Gian managed to sneak into the museum's underground laboratory and rendezvous with Doraemon, Nobita and Shizuka. This is one instance where said trope is justified, because Gian and Suneo accidentally shrunk themselves to a fraction of their sizes while fooling around near a Shrinking Tunnel, so they're lighter and can actually fit inside vents.
• Amazon Brigade: Kaitou DX have multiple copies of the Woodcutter's Pond gadget, the Robot Fairy residing in each of them having been converted to a robotic henchwoman who attacks with high-powered squirt guns.
• Artificial Gravity: One of the museum's exhibition rooms contain gravity generators on every surface, allowing the gang - as well as assorted museum patrons and staff - to walk around on walls and the ceiling. The gang is in fact introduced walking upside-down into said area.
• Badass Fingersnap: The gesture Kaitou DX uses to summon and recall his gadget minions, including the Woodcutter Pond Fairies and Knock-Down Hitman squadron.
• Big Head Mode: While fiddling around Kurt's prototype gadgets, Doraemon found a flashlight that he thought it's the Enlarging Ray. Turns out that is actually the Exaggeration Ray, that enlarges the cranium of it's user but doesn't affect the rest of their body - cue Doraemon's entire head swelling until he comically falls over and rolls around before hitting a shelf.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: While Popon isn't an alien, per se, he's still an artificial life form accidentally created by Kurt, who eats by teleporting food into itself. Demonstrated on a pineapple, whose contents disappears into Popon's stomach (turning the usually translucent-pink Popon yellow for a few seconds)... just as the whole pineapple deflates like a leaky balloon. Popon does the same thing to a watermelon, and later even on the miniature sun!
• Brutal Honesty: When Doraemon suffers a temporary mental breakdown after Gian and Suneo accidentally shrunk themselves, and he's unable to use any gadgets that could possibly get them out of their predicament, Nobita tries offering a few comforting words. Leading to this funny moment:
  Doraemon: Even the useless Nobita-kun understands my feelings...
  Nobita: Now why do I feel like I'm insulted?
• Calling Card: Kaitou DX would often leave behind his plastic name-card - with the words "Kaitou DX" - on the spot of his crimes. Due to his elusive nature, the real difficulty is for the gang to determine who Kaitou DX really is.
• The Cameo: The robot vendor who sold Doraemon and Nobita the tortoise robot is an exact clone of Gonsuke who shows up in plenty of previous Doraemon specials and movies. It's quite likely they're of the same model.
• Cassandra Truth: When Nobita reveals Kaitou DX's real identity as Kurt when the thief himself corners the gang, his friends doesn't believe him even after he explains all the evidences, which is not helped with Kurt himself (Actually Copy Robot) being right next to them. It takes him by showing them Kurt's tracking device that they start listening to him.
• Chekhov's Exhibit:
  • One of the exhibits that gets slightly more focus is the "Copy Robot", a doll-sized gadget that can assume the form of anyone who activates it, and carry out the orders of it's user. While it's initial appearance is for setting up a few jokes, it turns out later that Kurt - aka Kaitou DX - had used one of the Copy Robots to clone himself in order to distract the heroes as he plans his next heist.
  • Doraemon tries searching for clues near the Robot Medusa Heads at one point, only for his hands to get stuck in one of their mouths. Later on the gang runs afoul of a DX version of the Medusa Heads, one as large as the room it's in.
  • The Super Vacuum Cleaner in Kurt's lab appears for a gag when it accidentally strips Shizuka, much to her embarrassment. It's later used to contain the expanding artificial sun in an attempt to stop it from imploding.
• Continuity Cavalcade / Continuity Porn: The amount of gadgets from the manga making cameo appearances is staggering. Even one-shot tools and minor robots appears as exhibits:
  • The Robot Exhibit at the entrance contains the Woodcutter's Pond, several Knock-Down Hitmen robots, the Mood-Changing Orchestra, Saio Horse, Umatake Bamboo, Instant Art-Critic, a Robot Girl that resembles Roboko from the manga, the Come-Here-Cat, the mono-eyed Broadcaster (from the manga where Nobita scores 100% on his exams), floating probes similar to those used by the Dinosaur Hunters, the Smoke Genie robot, the sentient robot microphone, the "Guidance Angel", matador-robots, the tin soldier firing squad, the Robot Dog "best friend" and a Humongous Mecha looking a lot like Zanda Claus. Each and every single one of them being from the manga or previous movies.
  • There are also Display Levels resembling lands made of clouds, a miniature galaxy where audiences can learn the backstory of the universe's creation, and outdoor gardens populated by living plants. The last area have Mini-Doras hanging around and insects piloted by the Anything Controller, yet another gadget from the manga.
  • The Zero-Gravity Display Hall has the Hypnotizing Bank, Medusa Heads, Wake-up Call Glove, Clockwork Key, Artificial Prehistoric Furs, Living Art Crayon, Sword of Denkomaru, Sound Reflector, Air Cannon, Wind Fan, Shrinking Tunnel, Mobile Snail House, Missing Person Stick, Spying Vines Plank, Belly Gas Injector, Cupid's Arrow, Doctor's Medical Box, Zero Gravity Gloves, and entire galleries of gadgets from either the manga or movies.
  • While the security and Time Patrol searches around the exhibits, a few other tools and references can be seen. The Galaxy Display has an Instant Space Shuttle, a floating pirate ship and a train carriage through space, a spatial-tunneling worm pops up alongside other robots near the robot exhibition, and the undersea exhibition have the underwater campfire. As does the outdoor area with Camping Capsules and Expanding Safari Hats.
  • Kaitou DX and Inspector Mustard tries one-upping each other with another plethora of gadgets featured in previous manga and episodes, including the Reverse Mantle, True Sight Magnifier, Untrusted Pills, Confidence Helmet, Three Criteria Fan, Knockout Gloves, Navel Tickler, Absconding Leaf, oh so many gadgets…
• Costume-Test Montage: After Doraemon lose his precious collar bell early in the film, seeing Doraemon depressed, Nobita instead offers a bunch of alternative bells with the Costume Camera, ranging from Christmas bells, a banana, Buddhist temple bells, eggs, a chick and an Elizabethan collar. Doraemon is NOT amused.
• David Versus Goliath: Doraemon taking over Kurt's Kaitou DX mantle at the end have him transforming into Dora-Deluxe, which then allows him to do battle with the rampaging Killer Robot some twenty times his size. And win.
• Don't Wake the Sleeper: The prologue have Kaitou DX stealing Doraemon's collar-bell by opening a portal in the closet Doraemon is sleeping in, stick a hand through, and yank said bell away. Despite pulling really hard, he somehow doesn't wake Doraemon in the process, but then again Doraemon's a Heavy Sleeper.
• Evil Gloating: Parodied when Professor Peppler cackles over his research being capable of changing the world (with Dramatic Thunder to boot!)… before his granddaughter, Ginger, suddenly interrupts.
  Professor Peppler: Soon, my installation will be complete, and then... mwahahahaha [cue Dramatic Thunder]
  Ginger: Grandpa! Are you still fooling around with your gadgets again?! [gloating abruptly skids to a halt]
• Extreme Omnivore: Popon, who saves the day by swallowing the miniature sun in the climax.
• Flying Car: The futuristic automobile which transports the gang to the future, firstly taking the form of a convertible before taking flight and disappearing in mid-air, in a manner ala Back to the Future.
• Freak Out: Doraemon's reaction upon finding out his bell has been stolen. And for the second time in the movies, it's Doraemon who does the Say My Name Running Gag before the opening credits (in other installments, Nobita would yell Doraemon's name aloud after getting into trouble, which then segues into the OP).
  Doraemon: [losing it completely after his bell's missing] NOBITA-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!
• History Repeats: Dr. Peppler's ambition to replace all fullmetal in the world with his own pepplermetal ends up backfire on him and made all the gadgets that uses the former material vanish completely. To top it all off, it causing the miniature sun to go out of control, the exact same mistake he did years ago when he was still working with Dr. Hartmann.
• Head Pet: Or Head Friend? After Gian and Suneo accidentally shrunk themselves, they took a ride on Doraemon's head.
• Hobbling the Giant: How the giant rampaging Prototype Robot was stopped - when the Kurucuckoo Shoes, each holding one end of a rope, trips over the robot. As it stumbles a bit, Dora-Deluxe managed to target a weak spot.
• Imagine Spot: The film opens with one of Nobita's daydreams where he's a Sherlock Holmes-type super detective dueling with Arsène Lupin, before suddenly waking up after slipping off his table. And his friends Suneo, Shizuka and Gian laughing at him.
• Impact Silhouette: Dora-Deluxe when fighting the giant robot at the end briefly gets smashed into a wall. Thanks to the Deluxe transformation gadget he's unscathed, but leaves behind a crater in the wall.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: While Doraemon, Nobita and the others tries searching for clues, Kurt randomly said he needs to use the loo. Because he's changing into his Kaitou DX gear next.
• Kid Detective: The Sherlock Set turns Nobita into one of these, which allows him to calculate the clues left behind by Kaitou DX and match wits with the thief. As well as performing a Sherlock Scan that uncovers Kurt to be the real Kaitou DX.
• Killer Robot: The Prototype Patrol Robot, a giant-sized version of the Copy Robot display capable of malfunctioning and attacking everything in sight which it precisely did at the climax.
• Lighter and Softer: The previous movies, Doraemon: Nobita and the Steel Troops, Doraemon: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King and Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles ~Animal Adventure~ all have the gang going through life-threatening situations and villains who had no qualms trying to eliminate them. In contrast this one's a low-key museum visit with minimal stakes, lacking any actually dangerous or hostile villains, and while the ending where they try to stop an expanding mini-sun from destroying the entire museum is intense, it's resolved relatively quickly thanks to Popon's ability to eat literally anything and Doraemon using the restoration light to fix things up.
• Mercury's Wings: Subverted with Kurt's inventions, the Kurocuckoo gadget which is a pair of boots with wings... and malfunctions the moment it's worn, giving Director Fiks one hell of a shock when he tests it out. Said shoes does end up saving the day when the gang needs some assistance in tripping over a rampaging giant robot.
• Mishmash Museum: The titular museum displays every single gadget throughout the entirety of the franchise without any seeming categorization, except for "robots" and "tools". And even then the placement is completely random; the robot exhibits have Humongous Mecha and doll-sized machines in the same place, as does Ridiculously H Uman Robots and SkeleBot 9000 varieties...
• My Instincts Are Showing: After Doraemon's prized collar bell is stolen early in the film, he is adament to retrieve no matter what. As it turns out, without the bell Doraemon will regress to a cat-like state, licking himself and hopping around on all fours, much to the confusion of Nobita and the rest of the gang.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Near the Copy Robot display, Gian and Suneo creates "handsome" copies of themselves with the robots, lifted from the manga stories "Woodcutter's Pond" and "The Dream Channel".
  • The DX Medusa Robot is taken down the same way as the manga version.
• No Antagonist: This movie doesn't have a main villain due to Kaitou DX actually being Kurt the whole time and Dr. Peppler, while somewhat gives a Mad Scientist vibe at times and being the real culprit behind the bell theft, doesn't have malicious intention otherwise. The only actual struggle is the climax where a mini-sun nearly destroys the museum, which the gang later prevents with Kurt's help before parting ways with Kurt on good terms.
• No OSHA Compliance: Where robot displays run stray and completely amok...
  • Right off the bat, a random Knock-Down Hitman is shown attacking one of the museums' guests.
  • Somehow it never occurred to the Museum's management to dismantle the Prototype Copy Robot, a Killer Robot that attacks everything in sight, before accidents could happen (or at least take it outside the museum, away from it's visitors), instead simply keeping it in a restricted area that's unguarded, seeing how Suneo and Gian simply waltzed in and discovers it by accident.
  • A Shrinking Tunnel is left unattended with the entrance exposed, causing Gian and Suneo - fooling around like usual - to accidentally enter said tunnel, shrinking themselves. They then assume they're in the museum's giant exhibition, only to realize they're pocket-sized versions of themselves and the tunnel is nowhere to be found.
• The Nudifier: Nobita accidentally activates a "hyper vacuum" that sucks up the clothes Shizuka is wearing, including her underwear.
• Once More, with Clarity: The movie gives audiences a flashback on the backstory behind Doraemon's bell, specifically why it's so precious to him; once when Nobita threw a tantrum while outdoors (this seems to be during their early days before they become inseparable), he accidentally caused Doraemon's bell to fall into a gutter. Feeling guilty, Nobita then spends a whole afternoon and evening wading in the mud to retrieve said bell, getting himself dirty in the process. Doraemon initially though the event didn't mean much to Nobita, but towards the end of the film after the adventure is over, it turns out Nobita holds the memory of said event close to his heart as well.
• Our Founder: The exterior of the Museum have a life-sized statue dedicated to it's founder, Dr. Hartmann.
• The Power of the Sun: The "Solar Resources Machine" is an artificial Sun being generated and researched upon in the basement of the museum, which is off-limits to visitors but the gang stumbles upon by accident. Predictably, it goes haywire in the finale threatening to enlarge and swallow everything in sight.
• Running Gag: A turtle robot accidentally found it's way inside Doraemon's Fourth Dimensional Pocket, and repeatedly bites Doraemon's fingers (or at least, whatever equivalent Doraemon has to fingers) whenever he tries retrieving his gadget over and over.
• Talking in Your Sleep: A gag from both Nobita and Doraemon.
  • Nobita early on when he's waking up from his daydream thinking he's Sherlock Holmes.
  Nobita: [sleep-talking] Lupin... Lupin, I'll stop you... huh? [wakes up, and hear his friends laughing at him]
  Gian: Nobita, were you dreaming of becoming Holmes?
  • Doraemon dreaming about his on-off cat girlfriend, Mii-chan, and mistaking Kaitou DX yanking at his bell as Mii-chan's affection.
  Doraemon: Mii-chan, ohhhh... [oblivious at his bell being yanked off]
• Tomato Surprise: The legendary thief responsible for this whole mess, Kaitou DX? He's actually the gang's new friend Kurt, who stole Doraemon's bell as it's the hiding place of one of Dr. Pepura's six converter chips for turning fullmetal into Pepura Metal.
• Tracking Device: The badges Kurt gives Doraemon and gang as soon as they enter, under the pretense of because of the museum's massive size, he doesn't want to risk any of them getting lost. In truth though, said badges are for Kurt to track down and stay one step ahead of the gang as he plots his next heist as the thief, Kaitou DX.
• Weapons That Suck: Kurt's prototype Super Vacuum Cleaner can suck in anything with a single button, as the gang finds out when randomly activating it... near Shizuka, who lose her clothes in an instant.
  Shizuka: Gah, don't look, don't look!
  [cue Popon turning himself into an improvised wall around Shizuka while everyone holds their hands to their eyes]

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