History Main / PolkaDotDisease

* In a ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendsForever'' comic book, most of Ponyville's population becomes covered in red spots (also sneezing, having sore throats, being tired, lisping and [[NonSequitur speaking nonsense]]).

** ComicBook/TheLeperFromKrypton'': The Kryptonian equivalent to leprosy causes people and animals to develop a sickly-green complexion with black welts.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' entitled "Getting Antsy", Darkwing gets shrunk down to a microscopic size and the villain starts having sneezing fits, then his skin turns green with orange spots and he gets pink stripes on his tongue. When Darkwing goes back to regular size, he announces that he befriended a germ, who infected the villain. Unfortunately, Darkwing and his friends also get the illness.
* In the ''Literature/HarryAndHisBucketFullOfDinosaurs'' episode "Achoo", Harry has a cold and when other dinosaurs catch the virus, they each get a ''different'' disease. [[CowardlyLion Taury]]'s is Itchy-Spot-Itis, which manifests itself as itchy, purple spots all over the body that can fall off. [[SoupIsMedicine Chicken soup]] [[HyperactiveMetabolism cures it.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HigglytownHeroes'': The episode "Eubie's Pink Dots" has Eubie and the gang suddenly break out in pink spots after running into the bushes to retrieve his ball. The nurse reveals the kids were exposed to a poisonous plant in the bushes called "Higgly Ivy", which caused them to break out.
* In "Pop-Up!" from ''WesternAnimation/JoJosCircus'', Skeebo Seltzer gets the polka dot spots and is upset when he has to stay home from school from two weeks and they even start appear on his feet. [=JoJo=] and her pet lion Goliath have already had them, so they come over to his place to make him feel better and entertain him with a jack-in-the-box.
* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Lalaloopsy}}'' episode "Spot-itis": everyone except Spot gets multicoloured spots on their faces and Rosie thinks it's a disease which she names "spot-itis". [[spoiler:However, it turns out that they just had paint on them.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/LittlePrincess'' episode "I Don't Want to Kiss Great Aunty", Princess paints green dots on her face so that they'll think she has "Warble-Dots" and can't kiss her great-aunt. However, she soon gives up when she's told the cure tastes like sweaty socks.

** Zigzagged and ultimately averted in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E9BridleGossip Bridle Gossip]]": After going into the Everfree Forest, Twilight's horn and Pinkie Pie's tongue both have blue spots in addition to not working right (and the rest of the Mane Six have something else wrong with them). Twilight thinks it could be an illness, but also muses that it could be an allergy, while the rest of the ponies believe it to be a curse. [[spoiler: It turns out to be neither: instead, it's a result of a plant called Poison Joke, which causes cruelly humorous afflictions in people who come in contact with it.]]
** Subverted in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy Hurricane Fluttershy]]". Rainbow Dash comes in and sees Fluttershy covered in red spots and claiming that she has "Pony Pox". However, Rainbow Dash washes the spots off Fluttershy, proving that she was faking it.
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E3AFlurryOfEmotions A Flurry of Emotions]]", several foals fall sick with the "Horsey Hives" and are covered in red spots.
** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E18AHealthOfInformation A Health of Information]]", the first obvious symptom of Swamp Fever is orange spots appearing all over the afflicted pony's body. Leaves and branches eventually begin to grow from these same spots, with the eventual result being the victim [[{{Transflormation}} turning into a tree]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/PinkyDinkyDoo'' episode "Polka-Dot Pox", Pinky tells a story about herself and her friends getting an illness called polka-dot pox, whose only symptom is multicoloured dots on the face.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RoliePolieOlie'', Olie gets a disease (despite being a robot) that means he's covered in multicoloured spots, known as the "Polie Pox". Zowie, his little sister, wants to get it as she thinks it's cool having them, [[spoiler:and eventually, she does.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines'': In "Barnstormers," Zilly is pursued by a smitten farm Fraulein. He uses a pen with red ink to put dots all over his face to make the Fraulein think he has the measles.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'', Christopher Robin wants to get out of going to a party, so Tigger paints spots on him. Christopher Robin's mother says that he still has to go because, "watercolor spots aren't contagious."

* ''VideoGame/{{Neopets}}'' has the diseases Hoochie Coochies (the pet gets blue and green spots), Neezles (the pet has red spots), and Neopox (very itchy red blotches, contagious).

* In "Pop-Up!" from ''WesternAnimation/JoJosCircus'', Skeebo Seltzer gets the polka dot spots and is upset when he has to stay home from school from two weeks and they even start appear on his feet. [=JoJo=] and her pet lion Goliath have already had them, so they come over to his place to make him feel better and entertain him with a jack-in-the-box.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/ThePlagueOfTheAntibioticMan'', people infected with Amalak's alien plague develop large, irregular purple spots all over their bodies.

* Discussed in ''Film/MaryPoppins'': when Mary equates her uncle Albert's levitation upon laughing to an illness and says it's contagious, Jane Banks wonders if she and her brother Michael will get spots. Mary replies that it's highly unlikely.

* Subverted in the ''Toys/{{Lalaloopsy}}'' episode "Spot-itis": everyone except Spot gets multicoloured spots on their faces and Rosie thinks it's a disease which she names "spot-itis". [[spoiler:However, it turns out that they just had paint on them.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Discussed in ''Film/MaryPoppins'': when Mary equates her uncle Albert's levitation upon laughing to an illness and says it's contagious, Jane Banks wonders if she and her brother Michael will get spots. Mary replies that it's highly unlikely.
* ''Film/TheLittleRascals'': in the 1925 silent short film ''Circus Fever'' Gene and Farina are being covered entirely with white spots on their body.

[[/folder]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HarryAndHisBucketFullOfDinosaurs'' episode "Achoo", Harry has a cold and when other dinosaurs catch the virus, they each get a ''different'' disease. [[CowardlyLion Taury]]'s is Itchy-Spot-Itis, which manifests itself as itchy, purple spots all over the body that can fall off. [[SoupIsMedicine Chicken soup]] [[HyperactiveMetabolism cures it.]]

Somewhat TruthInTelevision: there's more than a handful of conditions and diseases in RealLife that make you appear spotty, such as chicken pox and measles, which are the basis of many of these diseases, and some children in both fiction and real life [[PlayingSick fake these diseases by painting spots on]], but you can easily tell if someone is faking because these real diseases' spots look more like a skin rash than actual polka-dots.

''Film/TheLittleRascals'': in the 1925 silent short film ''Circus Fever'' Gene and Farina are being covered entirely with white spots on their body.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'', when Madam Mim loses in her and Merlin's ShapeShifting battle due to Merlin turning into a germ and infecting her, she develops a green complexion with red spots.

* Invoked in an early draft of ''Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory,'' in which one of Willy Wonka's products was Spotty Powder, a candy that looks exactly like sugar but makes your face break out in spots when you eat it, so you can fake being sick and stay home. Miranda Mary Piker, a notorious TeachersPet, would have objected to the production of the stuff and got herself taken out of the tour by trying to smash the machine.

* In a Skittles commercial, the "Skittles Pox" makes people grow skittles on their bodies.

''Film/TheLittleRascals'': in the 1925 silent short film ''Circus Fever'' Gene and Farina are being covered entirely with White spots on their body.

''Film/TheLittleRascals'' in the 1925 silent short film ''Circus Fever'' Gene and Farina are being covered entirely with White spots on their body.