Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. Five anime instalments based on the franchise have been produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball (1986); Dragon Ball Z (1989); Dragon Ball GT (1996); and Dragon Ball Super (2015); followed by the web series Super Dragon Ball Heroes (2018). Since 1986, twenty one theatrical animated films based on the franchise have been released: four based on the original Dragon Ball anime, fifteen based on Dragon Ball Z, and two based on Dragon Ball Super. There are also several television specials that were broadcast on Fuji TV and two short films, which were shown at the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour and Jump Festa 2012 respectively. A two-part hour-long crossover TV special between Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and Toriko aired on Fuji TV in 2013. Additionally, there is a two-part original video animation created as strategy guides for the 1993 video game Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans, which was remade in 2010 and included with the Raging Blast 2 video game.
As with the franchise's anime television series, all 20 films and the first three TV specials were licensed in North America by Funimation. In Europe, AB Groupe licensed the first three Dragon Ball movies, the first nine Z movies, and the first two TV specials.
Dragon Ball is one of the most successful franchises in animation history.[1] The anime series is broadcast in more than 80 countries worldwide.[2] In the United States, the anime series has sold more than 30 million DVD and Blu-ray units as of 2017.[1]