Line #6 WesternAnimation/DotAndTheKangaroo


1	%%
2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16768087150.99905300
3	%% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/61kmuysoxil_ac.jpg]]
6	%%
7
8	The ''Dot'' series is an Australian film series featuring animation placed over live-action backgrounds. The first film, ''Dot and the Kangaroo'', was released in 1977. It was based on the posthumous 1899 novel by Ethel C. Pedley. The first film was an early success for Creator/YoramGross' studio and led to a total of eight sequels (diverging further and further from the original source material), with the last (''Dot in Space'') being released in 1994. The original film tells the story of a little girl who gets lost in the forest, but is helped by a kindly mother kangaroo.
9
10	[[Characters/DotAndTheKangaroo Character sheet]] in progress.
11
12	----
13	!!Tropes in ''Dot and the Kangaroo'' (and the ''Dot'' series in general):
14	* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: In Pedley's original novel, [[spoiler: the kangaroo stays to meet Dot's parents and be thanked for protecting her. As this is going on, a joey emerges from the cottage which was being looked after by Dot's mother during the time Dot was lost. The kangaroo is stunned but overjoyed upon recognising that it is ''her'' joey. And although Dot does gradually lose the ability to talk to animals, the kangaroo and her joey stay near the homestead and frequently visit Dot and her family who open an animal sanctuary]].
15	* AdaptedOut: Kangaroo never finds her joey (whereas in the book by strange coincidence [[spoiler: he was found by Dot's parents]]). Dot searching for the joey drives the plots of both ''Around the World with Dot'' and ''Dot and the Bunny'', although the films do not follow on from one another, [[spoiler: with the latter explicitly mentioning he was sent to a zoo overseas. It is possible the latter is set up as an AlternateContinuity, see SnapBack below. Either that, or the events of ''Dot and the Bunny'' chronologically precede those of ''Around the World with Dot'']].
16	* AnimatedMusical: This also applies to the sequels, except ''Dot in Space''.
17	* ArtShift:
18	** During the Bunyip Song, the movie switches to more surreal character art based around Aboriginal-style depictions of the titular beast.
19	** The animation tended to vary a fair bit over the course of each film, with them generally using different variations of the same basic formula. Eventually, it completely changed to a mostly [[{{Animesque}} anime-influenced look]].
20	* BewareTheNiceOnes:
21	** Dot is a FriendToAllLivingThings and is [[NiceGirl all-in-all a kind-hearted and sweet-natured little girl]], but as the sequels show, threatening and/or harming anyone she cares about is a good way to get on her bad side, especially if you're in her presence.
22	** There's also the Kangaroo, who is the kindest out of all the bush creatures Dot meets, but [[MamaBear she is also willing to protect her as if she were her own joey]], and [[DeadlyDodging indirectly sends one of the dingoes chasing her falling to his death]] in the original film. She also battles a spider while insect-sized to rescue the titular duo in ''Dot and Keeto''.
23	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Dot makes it home safely in the end, but she's clearly devastated at the sudden departure of the kangaroo. Dot even sobs as she cries out for the kangaroo to come back at the end credits roll. Also, the kangaroo doesn't find her joey (which became the jumping off point for the first two sequels)]].
24	* CelebrityCameo: Dot meets Creator/SpikeMilligan in trailers for the movie.
25	* ChasingAButterfly: In this case, a marsupial mouse, this is how Dot gets lost in the book and film.
26	* CoversAlwaysLie:
27	** Dot's clothes are often depicted as completely yellow, her pinafore dress is always yellow but the sweater she appears to wear underneath is always either a different shade of yellow or white or cream.
28	** A DVD cover for the original film depicts Dot with blonde hair like her counterpart in the original novel.
29	** A German promotional poster for the original film depicts Dot in her ''Dot and Keeto''/''Dot and the Whale'' appearance as emphasized by her lacking visible lips.
30	** Promotional posters for ''Dot and Keeto'', ''Dot and the Whale'' and ''Dot and the Smugglers'' depict Dot with visible lips. She no longer has them after ''Dot and the Koala''.
31	** A North American VHS cover for ''Around the World with Dot'' depicts Dot wearing a green dress, [[ChristmasSpecial though this was probably meant to tie-in with the movie's Christmas theme.]]
32	** Some DVD covers for ''Around the World with Dot''/''Dot and Santa Claus'' depict the perpetually barefoot Dot wearing shoes. She does wear shoes in live-action form in this film though.
33	** A DVD cover of ''Dot and the Bunny'' depicts Dot wearing a pink dress.
34	*** A storybook adaptation of the same movie depicts Dot's dress as a single piece of clothing instead of her usual pinafore and sweater.
35	** A DVD cover of ''Dot and the Whale'' depicts the perpetually barefoot Dot wearing sandals.
36	** The anime-esque Dot of the last two sequels is depicted in story-on-tape book covers for ''Dot and the Koala'' and ''Dot and the Whale'', as emphasized by her eyes and lack of visible lips, she still has the latter in the former movie.
37	** The Family Home Entertainment VHS release of ''Dot and the Smugglers'' lists the runtime as 75 minutes, even the actual runtime is 60 minutes.
38	** The VHS cover and a book adaptation of ''Dot in Space'' depict [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dot in outer space]] [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace with her helmet under one arm instead of on her head. It is possible she was supposed to be implied to be back on board her rocket, having successfully rescued Whyka who is under her other arm]].
39	* CrosscastRole: The Kangaroo is clearly played by a male in the live action footage.
40	* DeadlyDingos: The titular characters had to outrun a pack of dingos that were pets to a tribe of aborigines that were performing a ritual that scared Dot.
41	* DisneyAcidSequence / TheVillainSucksSong : The Bunyip Song ("Bunyip Moon").
42	* DisneyVillainDeath: One of the dingos falls into a chasm while chasing Dot and the kangaroo.
43	* EarthyBarefootCharacter: Dot's perpetual lack of footwear helps to establish that she's closer to nature than most people.
44	* FarmersDaughter: Dot, since her grandfather is also known as Jack the Farmhand.
45	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
46	** The frogs are attacked by crocodiles at the end of their IAmSong. In ''Dot and the Bunny'', the crocodiles get an IAmSong of their own, right before attempting to eat Dot and Funny-Bunny.
47	** Also, at one point in the film, Dot is almost attacked by a snake. She obviously learns from this encounter as she approaches the snakes (and other reptiles) with caution in ''Dot and the Bunny''.
48	** ''Around the World with Dot'' and ''Dot and the Bunny'' to ''Dot and the Whale''.
49	*** In ''Around the World with Dot'', a whale transports Dot and her friends to as close to Japan as he dares to venture without attracting attention from whalers. Tonga lost her immediate family to whalers.
50	*** In ''Dot and the Bunny'', Dot narrowly avoids stepping on an echidna with her bare foot and a sea-turtle takes her and Funny-Bunny back to the mainland. In ''Dot and the Whale'', Dot nearly dies from stepping on poisonous live coral and rides a sea-turtle.
51	** Also ''Around the World with Dot'' to ''Dot and the Smugglers'' and ''Dot Goes to Hollywood''.
52	*** Both ''Around the World with Dot'' and ''Dot and the Smugglers'' feature Dot and her friends infiltrating a circus, in the latter, [[spoiler:Dot frees the imprisoned circus animals.]]
53	*** In both ''Around the World with Dot'' and ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', [[spoiler: Dot travels to America where she infiltrates a zoo to rescue one of her animal friends (Joey the kangaroo, Gumley the koala).]]
54	** In ''Dot and the Bunny'', the first mishap Funny-Bunny has is falling off a log into a stream and Dot has to come and rescue him. He later falls into a raging torrent during a storm and is washed away before Dot can reach him.
55	* FreeRangeChildren: Dot, even though she gets lost as a result here, she becomes increasingly so in the sequels.
56	* HardHead: Dot's tumble down the embankment ends with her striking a tree headfirst but she suffers no ill effects whatsoever.
57	** Happens again when she lands on her head after falling off a wall, trying to rescue Gumley from the zoo, in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood''.
58	* IAmSong: "I'm a Frog" in the first film, with this trope becoming a recurring theme with most of the animals Dot meets.
59	* IntellectualAnimal: Especially the platypus couple with their insistence on using their species' Latin name.
60	* JerkassRealization: The bush animals. After hearing the Kangaroo's story of how she lost her joey and compared her situation to Dot getting lost in the woods, they have this after they initially refused to help her.
61	* KangarooPouchRide: There's even a song about it.
62	* KangaroosRepresentAustralia: Though ironically enough, the Kangaroo's original voice actress, Joan Bruce, was British.
63	* LiteralCliffhanger: The kangaroo does this after jumping a chasm.
64	* MoodWhiplash:
65	** A, brief, upbeat ("Clickity-Click") song by Willy Wagtail... followed ''immediately'' by the unhappy ending!
66	** Also, a scene where Dot's parents are mourning her is sandwiched between "Clickity-Click" and its reprise.
67	** The ''Roaming Free'' song in ''Dot and the Bunny'', followed soon after by Funny-Bunny slipping off a log into a stream and Dot having to come and rescue him.
68	** The insect-sized Dot singing about ''Little Things'' in ''Dot and Keeto'', only to then get attacked by a crow and a cat.
69	** Dot and Gumley singing ''Happy Indisputably'' at the beginning of ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', only to dejectedly walk home after failing to make any money.
70	* NobodyPoops: Averted; Dot whispers to the kangaroo, which she responds with "Anywhere you like, dear", followed by Dot making a PottyDance gesture.
71	* PrefersGoingBarefoot:
72	** Dot is always barefoot in all the movies.
73	*** Averted as she wears canvas shoes in live-action form in ''Around the World with Dot'' and she is forced to become an astronaut in order to rescue Whyka in ''Dot in Space''.
74	** Dot's human friends in ''Dot and the Whale'' though, to a certain degree, this is to be expected as they were all playing on the beach until Alex, Owen and Dot alerted them to Tonga's plight.
75	** One of the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot in ''Dot and the Smugglers''. Specifically the one who doesn't wear glasses.
76	* PuzzlingPlatypus: Mr. and Mrs. Platypus singing about their peculiar qualities, as an "Ornithorhynchus paradoxus" (an outdated Latin name for the platypus).
77	* RogerRabbitEffect:
78	** The first eight films are all based around this visually, with the characters in the foreground being animated to interact with a filmed live-action background -- as seen [[http://hecknopoohsadventures.tumblr.com/image/42656996330 here]] in ''Dot Goes To Hollywood''.
79	** Goes back-and-forth between live-action and painted backgrounds in ''Around the World with Dot'', and averted starting with ''Dot and the Smugglers'', which only uses traditional painted backgrounds.
80	* ShakingTheRump: A koala does this during the ''Red Kangaroo'' sequence.
81	* SnakesAreSinister:
82	** A snake coils around Dot's legs and is prepared to bite her just before the kookaburra swoops down and saves her.
83	** Averted with the snakes Dot encounters in ''Dot and the Bunny'' but she still approaches them with caution, suggesting she learned from her encounter in the original film.
84	* SpeaksFluentAnimal:
85	** In the book, Dot does after eating some [[AppliedPhlebotinum berries]] the mother kangaroo offers her, which Dot had to keep eating in order to prolong the effects. In the movie, the berries were replaced by roots, and the effect was permanent-- though the sequels offered several different explanations for Dot's ability to understand animals, and sometimes didn't even bother.
86	** [[spoiler: It's implied that the roots aren't permanent either in the first film. When Willy Wagtail says "Kangaroo must have her freedom" to Dot when Kangaroo leaves at the end, the last word of his sentence echos until it becomes the sound of a bird chirping.]]
87	** Dot has to take the roots of understanding again in ''Dot and Keeto'' in order to talk to animals, further implying that they're not permanent, or at least not in this instance.
88	** ''Dot in Space'' implies that Dot is only able to communicate with animals native to Australia, yet somehow she can freely communicate with aliens on another planet, and understand Whyka's barking in Russian.
89	*** Though to be fair, it's likely because in the series, some of the animals she encounters are portrayed as non-sapient (i.e. the dingos and the snake in the original film, the magpie and the cat in ''Dot and Keeto'', and the seagulls in ''Dot and the Whale''.)
90	* ThunderEqualsDownpour:
91	** Not what you want when lost in the forest.
92	** Happens again in ''Dot and the Bunny''. She has to take refuge in a wallaby cave.
93	** And again in ''Dot in Space'' when she escapes from the Prison for Squaries.
94	* WatchOutForThatTree: While chasing a marsupial mouse, Dot trips and tumbles down the embankment and hits her head on a tree. Miraculously, she didn't suffer from any head traumas.
95	----
96	!!Tropes the sequels have:
97	* AbusiveParents:
98	** Implied with the mother and child travelling by plane in ''Around the World with Dot''.
99	** Papa Drop in ''Dot in Space'' threatens to put his son Roley in prison for opposing his FantasticRacism against Squaries, [[spoiler: [[OffingTheOffspring and even comes close to shooting him when he is disguised as ''The Party'' in the climax and shows no remorse for it when he finds out.]]]]
100	* AccidentalAstronaut: Though Dot had to kind of orchestrate herself becoming this in order to rescue Whyka in ''Dot in Space''.
101	* AdultsAreUseless:
102	** Human ones especially, with the odd exception (most obviously Danny the Swagman/Santa Claus in ''Around the World with Dot'' and Laurel and Hardy in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'').
103	** This is particularly emphasized in ''Dot and the Whale''.
104	* AgonyOfTheFeet:
105	** A near-fatal example in ''Dot and the Whale'', Dot steps on live coral and gets a venomous sting lodged in the sole of her foot, an octopus has to pull it out to save her.
106	** In ''Dot and the Bunny'', Funny-Bunny is bitten on his hind feet by crocodiles and Dot nearly steps on an echidna but this is averted when a numbat warns her at the last minute.
107	** A BoundAndGagged Dot stamps on Professor Globus' foot in ''Dot in Space''.
108	*** In the aforementioned movie, Whyka bites a Roundy soldier's foot when they're trying to recapture her and Dot.
109	* AlienSky: At (what appears to be) night on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in ''Dot in Space'', multiple moons/planets can be seen in the sky.
110	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The civilised inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared (basically the Roundies and the Squaries) somehow speak English before Dot is able to properly communicate with them, as indicated by the Roundy Sergeant egging his troops on as they tie up Dot, ignoring everything she says until they gag her.
111	* AlliterativeName: The name of the circus in ''Dot and the Smugglers'' is "Amazing Aussie Animals".
112	* AnachronismStew: The last two sequels ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' and ''Dot in Space'' suffer from this:
113	** The amount of Hollywood celebrities that Dot encounters in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' suggests this film takes place in the late 1930s or early 1940s at the latest, yet contains references to [[Creator/MarilynMonroe Marilyn Monroe]], who wasn't a Hollywood film star until 1945, and Dot briefly reenacts the SignatureScene from ''[[Film/TheSevenYearItch The Seven Year Itch]]'', which wasn't released until 1955.
114	*** Dot, Gumley and Dozey-Face travel from Australia to America on a Qantas jet airliner which means the film would have to be set in 1959 at the earliest as Qantas acquired a Boeing 707-138 for the first time in June of that year. This sequence also adds to the AnachronismStew of ''Dot in Space'' as it is reused in said movie.
115	*** Leo mentions that he was in a movie with Tarzan called ''Guess Who's for Dinner?'', a take-off of the film [[Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?]], which wasn't released in theaters until 1967.
116	** The plot of ''Dot in Space'' kicks off with a Russian dog named Whyka being launched into space and becoming trapped in orbit (mirroring her real-life counterpart Laika which suggests the film is set in 1957 and to provide further proof of this, Whyka is quoted as being launched aboard the ''Sputnik'' rocket, her real-life counterpart was launched aboard ''Sputnik 2'' in November 1957) yet an American monkey named Buster is quoted to be preparing to be launched from Cape Kennedy. The launchsite in question was still called Cape Canaveral in 1957 and was only named Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973.
117	*** Also, if ''Dot in Space'' is set in 1957 then the fact that Buster is preparing to be launched into space soon after Whyka is anachronistic as no monkeys were launched from Cape Canaveral until 1958, and even then, NASA initially experimented with sending mice into space before doing the same with monkeys.
118	* {{Animesque}}: For ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' and ''Dot in Space'', Dot was designed by Nobuko Yuasa (a.k.a Burnfield), a Japanese artist, who's previous work included the 1983 Manga/BarefootGen film adaptation, and gave her a very [[Creator/OsamuTezuka Tezuka-esque]] design, being slightly shorter with bigger eyes and a more expressive face.
119	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Dot briefly turns into a giant before [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrinking down to insect-size]] in ''Dot and Keeto''.
120	* BadassAdorable: A somewhat-downplayed example, but Dot definitely becomes this over time with her determination and the lengths she goes to in order to help her animal friends and protect the environment-- especially considering she's a young girl who can't be any older than nine or ten. By the time of ''Dot in Space'', she's seen switching places with a monkey in order to commandeer an American rocket and going into Space, all to rescue a Soviet space dog who's trapped in orbit.
121	* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: The nightmarish Bunyip mentioned in the first film finally appears near the end of ''Dot and the Smugglers'', but it was designed to look like a typical wooly, tall, big and fat humanoid beast that can live underwater. [[AntiClimax It's kind of disappointing]] for those who expected the original [[NothingIsScarier terrifying, mysterious creature]] of the first film.
122	* BloodlessCarnage:
123	** Downplayed but Funny-Bunny suffers no loss of mobility or any visible injury after his hind feet are bitten by crocodiles in ''Dot and the Bunny''.
124	** Dot's foot just gets a poisonous barb stuck in it with no bleeding or lasting injury in ''Dot and the Whale''.
125	* BoundAndGagged:
126	** In ''Dot and the Koala'', a family of wombats are just bound then after Dot and her animal friends rescue them, they do this to the dog-cops and stuff logs in their mouths.
127	** In ''Dot in Space'', this is the Roundies' preferred method of capture as poor Dot finds out when they ambush her. This leads to a PainfulAdhesiveRemoval for her when she is subjected to interrogation.
128	* {{Bowdlerized}}: ''Around the World with Dot'' and ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' seem to have went through this:
129	** In the North American release, the scene where the boy's mother gets angry at him [[DisproportionateRetribution for accidentally making her spill coffee]] has been cut from the film possibly due to [[BlackComedy humorous depictions of]] [[AbusiveParents child abuse]], which is deemed too inappropriate for family viewing.
130	** Most versions of the film have the man's face covered with a kabuki mask so the depiction wouldn't be seen as racist, though in the North American release, the man's face is shown.
131	** In ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', Gumley's condition is referred to as either the "koala sickness" or the "koala disease" and not by its scientific name ''chlamydia pecorum'' because ''chlamydia'' is also the name of a genus of pathogenic bacteria, a specified type of which causes sexually transmitted diseases, and referring to it by its scientific name would be too inappropriate for family viewing.
132	* ButNowIMustGo: Danny the Swagman in ''Around the World with Dot''.
133	* CanonDiscontinuity: This is possible for the following reasons.
134	** Dot appears to be an only child in the original film, in ''Around the World with Dot'', she has a previously unknown brother named Ben.
135	*** Dot (despite mentioning her father in ''Dot and the Bunny'') appears to only have a mother and a different brother named Simon in ''Dot and Keeto''.
136	** In ''Around the World with Dot'', [[spoiler: Dot finds the missing joey, (and it's implied in a storybook adaptation of ''Dot and Keeto'' that she returned him to his mother)]]. In ''Dot and the Bunny'', Dot is still searching for the missing joey.
137	** Dot is shown (or at least implied) to be still living at home with her family in the first five movies. She appears to be living with her animal friends from ''Dot and the Whale'' onwards.
138	** Not to mention the fact that Dot remains a child throughout the series despite the sequels clearly being set in a different time-period from that of the original film and quite possibly from each other.
139	* CatsAreMean:
140	** Averted with the British Lion Statue in ''Around the World with Dot'' though he does confess one of his kind (unintentionally) ate a Tea Lady.
141	** The insect-sized Dot is briefly terrorised by a cat in ''Dot and Keeto''.
142	** Averted with Leo the former MGM lion in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood''.
143	** Whyka is teased by a brown cat during her astronaut training in ''Dot in Space''.
144	* CelebrityCameo: ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' has Dot meet such famous names as Creator/LaurelAndHardy, Creator/ShirleyTemple, Creator/JamesCagney, among others. Of course, Dot is either [[RogerRabbitEffect animated into]] clips of their films, or the stars ''themselves'' become animated.
145	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
146	** Dot's father and Jack the Farmhand.
147	** Dot's brother Ben from ''Around the World with Dot''.
148	* CompletelyDifferentTitle:
149	** ''Around the World with Dot'' is alternatively known as ''Dot and Santa Claus''.
150	*** In Spanish, the film's title translates to ''The Great Journey''.
151	** To a lesser extent, ''Dot and the Smugglers'' is alternatively known as ''Dot and the Bunyip''.
152	* CrapsackWorld: The planet Pie-Arr-Squared under Papa Drop's regime in ''Dot in Space''. There are devastated villages and a dictatorship that bears a disturbing resemblance to [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazi Germany]].
153	* DarkerAndEdgier:
154	** ''Dot and the Whale'' was noticeably more somber in overall tone and had fewer songs than most of the other sequels, and even has a point where Dot nearly dies after accidentally treading on poisonous live coral - though it could still be considered LighterAndSofter compared to the original.
155	** ''Dot in Space'' is the only sequel not to be an AnimatedMusical and certainly one of the darkest, given that Dot narrowly escapes being blown up in a rocket explosion while trying to rescue a Russian dog that was stranded on said rocket and ends up stuck on an alien planet that is best described as an extraterrestrial Nazi Germany.
156	* DeathWorld: Crossing over with CrapsackWorld, the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in ''Dot in Space'', aside from having devastated villages and a dictatorship influenced by FantasticRacism, also has dangerous obstacles such as [[QuicksandSucks quicksand]], [[WhenTreesAttack hostile ''possessed'' trees]], [[LethalLavaLand active volcanoes and geyser fields]], all of which have deterred the Squaries from attempting to escape from prison, and they still have to live with such potential dangers, even without Papa Drop's regime.
157	* DemotedToExtra: Dot doesn't appear in ''Dot and the Koala'' until the last half hour.
158	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The most likely reason ''Dot in Space'' is seldom seen outside its native country of Australia (and even there, it is hard to find) is due to heavy references to [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Nazi Germany]], with the main villain of the film [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Papa Drop]] behaving in a similar manner to [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Adolf Hitler]], one of the [[PerpSweating Roundy interrogators]] performing the Nazi salute, and the persecution of [[InnocentAliens the Squaries]] under Papa Drop's regime being eerily similar to how the Jews were maltreated during [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust the Holocaust]]. We should be thankful we never find out what Papa Drop's version of the FinalSolution would be (It's implied to be nothing worse than simply working, starving and beating the Squaries to death from what we see in the movie but, for all we know, it could have been much worse like possible execution by laser gun firing squad for trying to escape for instance. This might, disturbingly, explain why hardly any male Squaries are seen in the movie.). This film would automatically be banned in Germany for the same reasons due to references to Hitler and Naziism being outlawed after [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII World War II]].
159	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', ostensibly to raise funds for a life-saving operation for her increasingly ill koala friend Gumley.
160	* FantasticRacism:
161	** The barn animal townsfolk appear to be this towards the bush animals in ''Dot and the Koala''. In fact, one of them can be clearly seen [[NotHelpingYourCase wearing a t-shirt saying "Marsupials Stink"]].
162	** [[ScaryDogmaticAliens The Roundies]] against [[InnocentAliens the Squaries]] in ''Dot in Space'', under the influence of Papa Drop. Dot herself is arrested for not being round enough.
163	* FatAndSkinny:
164	** The fish store owners in ''Dot and the Whale''.
165	** ''Dot and the Smugglers'' has the circus owners Mr. Spragg (fat) and Scarface (skinny).
166	*** Also in ''Dot and the Smugglers'', there's the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot. The tall, [[NerdGlasses bespectacled]] one who wears shoes (skinny) and the short one who PrefersGoingBarefoot (fat).
167	* FieryRedhead: Dot, if you dare to get on the wrong side of her, Alex and Owen in ''Dot and the Whale'' find this out the hard way when she throws sand at them because they were doing the same to Tonga.
168	* FourFingeredHands:
169	** Dot doesn't always have the right number of fingers and toes in the sequels.
170	** This also applies to other human characters on the rare occasion where they are depicted barefoot, most notably Alex and Owen in ''Dot and the Whale'' and the short fat boy who is shown to be friends with Dot in ''Dot and the Smugglers''.
171	* GreatEscape: Dot breaking out of the Prison for Squares in ''Dot in Space''.
172	* HelpImStuck:
173	** Mayor Percy gets stuck in an underground tunnel in the climax of ''Dot and the Koala''. It takes the sudden rush of water from the destruction of the dam to save him, despite the best efforts of Sherlock, Dot and Bruce.
174	** Dot gets her head stuck while trying to infiltrate the circus tent in ''Dot and the Smugglers''. Burra the kookaburra manages to pull her out but this results in some crates being knocked over, almost blowing her cover.
175	* HumansAreTheRealMonsters:
176	** In ''Dot And the Koala'', the [[FunnyAnimal animal-like townspeople]] acted no different when they and their mayor wanted to build [[spoiler:a hydro-electric dam]] over the native animal's homes.
177	** The two fishermen in ''Dot and the Whale'', who wanted to sell the whale as food.
178	** How Funny-Bunny was orphaned in ''Dot and the Bunny''. [[spoiler: His parents were shot by hunters.]]
179	* InexplicableLanguageFluency: The civilised inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared (basically the Roundies and the Squaries) in ''Dot in Space''.
180	* InsufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared in ''Dot in Space'' [[spoiler:have perfected laser guns, claim to own cars and]] are aware of the vast Universe beyond their planet [[spoiler:and ''creatures from space'' (including rabbits somehow, unless Dot crash-landing on their planet alerts them to the existence of creatures from space)]] but use ropes and duct tape to subdue prisoners. [[spoiler: They don't even have a more efficient method of digging Dot's rocket out of the ground, other than forcing the Squaries (and Dot) to dig it out with shovels, it takes Gorgo to pull it out and right it.]]
181	** Though, to be fair, it may be likely due to Papa Drop's rise to power resulting in destroying Pie-Arr-Squared's economy. This would also explain why the Roundies' homes are so structurally unsound and easily destroyed by Gorgo. They have leaves for roofs after all! Not to mention they don't have a more efficient method of rebuilding the destroyed homes other than forcing the Squaries (and Dot) to rebuild them and even that inevitably fails when Papa Drop decides to prioritise digging Dot's rocket out above everything else.
182	* InvisibleParents: We see Dot's mother in ''Dot and Keeto'' but that's about it.
183	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: In ''Dot in Space'', Dot crashlands on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared and naturally finds the surrounding area unfamiliar, as well as deserted and the nearest village destroyed. Cue OhCrap moment from Dot followed by the Roundies springing up out of the bushes, tying her up, gagging her and taking her to their leader.
184	* KidsDrivingCars:
185	** Played with in ''Dot and the Smugglers'', Dot manages to rewire a submarine before it's even been launched.
186	** Dot is able to competently operate a rocket in ''Dot in Space'', until she crash-lands on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared.
187	* LethalLavaLand: Dot and Whyka encounter active volcanoes and geyser fields while on the run in ''Dot in Space''.
188	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: ''Dot and the Koala'' has animals acting and dressing more like humans and even having houses, jobs and their own city. Curiously, it was only for this installment-- with them reverted to being more like real ones and living in the outback again [[StatusQuoIsGod for the rest of the series]].
189	* LivingMacGuffin:
190	** The Bunyip is this in ''Dot and the Smugglers'', with the titular antagonists trying to capture it for a circus [[spoiler:that Dot later discovers to be a front for an international wildlife-smuggling operation]].
191	** Gorgo in ''Dot in Space'' is this to the Roundies, they question his existence [[spoiler: until he scares them away while they're trying to recapture Dot.]]
192	* MadeASlave:
193	** Dot is subjected to this in ''Dot and Keeto'' and ''Dot in Space'', [[spoiler:though she escapes in both instances]].
194	** Anyone who isn't round in ''Dot in Space'' as long as Papa Drop is in charge.
195	* MindYourStep: Dot is issued this warning in ''Dot and the Bunny'' while looking for numbats and echidnas, she becomes lost in her attempts to understand why and nearly steps on an echidna with her bare foot without realising it until a numbat stops her.
196	* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Whyka the Russian dog and the Roundy dictator Papa Drop after Laika and (possibly) former Haitian President Francois Duvalier (who was nicknamed Papa Doc) in ''Dot in Space''.
197	* NamesToRunAwayFrom:
198	** Nasty the Wasp in ''Dot and Keeto''.
199	** Averted with Bruiser and Basher fighting kangaroos in ''Dot and the Smugglers''.
200	* NatureHero: Dot becomes this in the sequels, with her frequently [[SpeaksFluentAnimal being able to communicate with animals like people]] and having much more of a connection to them than before, as well as being very proactive (see BadassAdorable) in helping or protecting them when she has to-- among other feats, she ends up [[spoiler:bringing down an international wildlife-smuggling ring]] in ''Dot and the Smugglers'', and trades places with a monkey named Buster in order to commandeer an American space rocket to rescue a Russian space dog [[spoiler:and helps to overthrow a tyrannical empire of ScaryDogmaticAliens along the way]] in ''Dot in Space''.
201	* NerdGlasses:
202	** One of the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot in ''Dot and the Smugglers''. Specifically the one who wears shoes.
203	** In ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', Gumley has to wear these when he is inflicted with the koala eye disease.
204	* NeverTrustATitle: ''Dot & the Koala'' has Dot with the first billing, yet she doesn't appear in the film until the last half-hour.
205	* NightmareFace:
206	** The angry mum sports one after her son accidentally makes her spill coffee on her face in ''Around the World with Dot''.
207	** Two of the Roundy soldiers briefly have one as they're tying up Dot after they ambush her on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in ''Dot in Space''.
208	* NoBiochemicalBarriers: Dot and Whyka are able to breathe and function as normal on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in ''Dot in Space''.
209	* NobodyHereButUsStatues: Dot has to pose in front of a roadsign in order to infiltrate the Space Center in ''Dot in Space''.
210	* NonIndicativeName: The Squares in ''Dot in Space'' aren't even square, they're actually pale blue (or light grey) aliens with UnusualEars and FogFeet.
211	* NonMaliciousMonster:
212	** The Bunyip, when it makes its physical appearance in ''Dot and the Smugglers''. It initially appears to be angry, roaring to the heavens as it pokes its head up out of the water but it all it does is walk over to Dot and her friends, animal and human alike, and thanks them for getting rid of the smugglers as it is both scared and tired of people hunting it.
213	** Gorgo the alien dinosaur in ''Dot in Space''. He destroys the Roundies' homes and villages and scares off the Roundy Army but chooses to spare Dot and Whyka when they are at his mercy.
214	*** To a lesser extent in ''Dot in Space'', the RockMonster that helps Dot and Whyka traverse through a cave, while searching for ''The Party" [[spoiler: (Roley)]].
215	* OddballInTheSeries:
216	** In ''Dot and the Koala'', Dot is the only human character in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals.
217	** While most of the films are about protecting animals or the environment, ''Dot in Space'' is instead about racism-- and to a lesser extent, the use of animals in space missions. Dot's motivation for going there was to rescue Whyka, a Soviet space dog who acts as an expy of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laika Laika,]] and was trapped on a broken-down satellite in orbit.
218	* OpeningScroll: The opening credits of ''Dot in Space''.
219	* PaperThinDisguise: In ''Dot and the Bunny'', said bunny adopts a series of unconvincing disguises to convince Dot that he is the lost kangaroo joey she is looking for.
220	* PunnyName: Pie-Arr-Squared, the name of the planet Dot and Whyka crash-land on in ''Dot in Space'', is a reference to '''π × r2'''-- the mathematical formula used to measure the area of a circle.
221	* QuicksandSucks: In ''Dot in Space'', Dot nearly drowns in quicksand on her way to the Party's hideout on Gorgo Mountain. Thankfully, Whyka pulls her out.
222	* RecycledAnimation:
223	** The ''Red Kangaroo'' sequence from the original film is reused in ''Around the World with Dot'' (during Dot's flashback) and ''Dot and the Smugglers''.
224	** A sequence of Dot running from the original film is reused twice in ''Dot and the Bunny''.
225	** The sequence of Dot, Dozey-Face and Gumley travelling to America in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' is reused in ''Dot in Space''. (This results in a {{Blooper}} of sorts as Gumley is a character exclusive to the former movie)
226	* RecycledWithAGimmick: ''Dot in Space'' (1994), the last film in the series.
227	* RememberTheNewGuy: Dot's brother Ben in ''Around the World with Dot''.
228	* ReplacementGoldfish: At the end of ''Dot and the Bunny'' the mommy kangaroo, who never did find her joey, adopts the orphaned bunny.
229	* {{Retcon}}:
230	** The first movie appears to take place in the late-19th century but the sequels seem to take place in the mid-20th century at the earliest.
231	** In ''Dot and the Koala'', Dot is the only human character, everyone else is an anthropomorphic animal.
232	** Dot's brother Ben is renamed Simon in ''Dot and Keeto''.
233	* ReverseCerebusSyndrome: Most of the later films are more lighthearted than the first three installments.
234	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The premise for ''Dot and the Koala'' is based on the controversy surrounding the damming of the Franklin River that lasted from 1978 to 1981.
235	* RockMonster: Dot and Whyka encounter a whole cave full of these in ''Dot in Space''. Thankfully, the creatures in question were resting, [[NonMaliciousMonster and one of them helped Dot and Whyka traverse the cave.]]
236	* ScaryDogmaticAliens: Papa Drop and the Roundies in ''Dot in Space''. At least they would be to a little girl like Dot, especially [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace when they get right in her face.]]
237	* ShoutOut:
238	** In the sequels, Dot could easily pass for an Australian child version of [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Daphne Blake (with shades of Velma Dinkley in terms of using her intellect)]] as both are redheaded and prone to danger, solve mysteries (or at the very least, problems caused mainly by adult characters) and have animals as sidekicks.
239	** To ''Literature/GoldilocksAndTheThreeBears'' with the Russian bears, and ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' when Walter the mouse pulls his ears in ''Around the World with Dot''.
240	*** Speaking of Mickey Mouse, both him and [[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck Donald Duck]] are mentioned by Leo in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' when he and Kong sing about the good old days when they were stars in Hollywood.
241	*** Walter has the same middle initial and last name as [[WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}} Timothy]].
242	*** Walter's claims about mice being agents working inside the United Nations may be a reference to ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers'' (which, coincidentally, was released in the same year as the original film.)
243	** [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Bones and Doctor Watson]] in ''Dot and the Koala''.
244	** ''Dot and the Koala'' and ''Dot in Space'' may both be references to the works of George Orwell.
245	*** Mayor Percy being a pig and the leader of the barn animals in ''Dot and the Koala'' and the FantasticRacism towards the bush animals in said film and the Squaries in ''Dot in Space'' [[spoiler: (not to mention Roley's last line being "Everyone is equal!" before sending Dot and Whyka back to Earth)]] may all be references to ''Literature/AnimalFarm''.
246	*** The planet Pie-Arr-Squared under [[TheEmpire the regime]] of the main antagonist of ''Dot in Space'' [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Papa Drop]] and his son Roley's alter-ego [[spoiler: The Party]] may both be references to ''[[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]]''.
247	** Dot growing to a gigantic size and then shrinking to insect size after consuming the wrong root in ''Dot & Keeto'' may be a reference to ''[[Literature/AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland]]''.
248	*** Fittingly, Dot is renamed "Alice" in the Brazilian dub of the series.
249	** Also in ''Dot and Keeto'', the insect-sized Dot refers to [[Literature/GulliversTravels Lilliput]] during the ''Little Things'' song sequence.
250	** Listen carefully to the cockroaches during their VillainSong, they may be a reference to [[Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} the Daleks from ''Doctor Who''.]]
251	** Dot pleads to ''Literature/MobyDick'' for help after reading about him in ''Dot and the Whale''.
252	** In ''Dot and the Smugglers'', one of the titular smugglers is called ''Film/{{Scarface\|1932}}''.
253	*** The titular smugglers and the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot build [[WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine a submarine and paint it yellow]].
254	** A ShoutOutToShakespeare in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', where Dot attempts to recite lines from [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Romeo & Juliet]], but without success.
255	*** Speaking of ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'', the film is riddled with references to classic Hollywood films. Dot briefly re-enacts the SignatureScene from [[Film/TheSevenYearItch The Seven Year Itch]] starring [[Creator/MarilynMonroe Marilyn Monroe]] in which she stands over the subway grate with her dress fluttering in the air. When Dot and Gumley get inside the taxi after arriving at Hollywood, the driver mentions he played [[Film/TheMummy1932 the Mummy]]. Clips from films in the PublicDomain such as [[Film/TheFlyingDeuces The Flying Deuces]] and [[Film/TheLittlePrincess1939 The Little Princess]] are used for the dance sequences with [[RogerRabbitEffect Dot dancing along]]. Also during the song "Idols of Hollywood", Kong the monkey can be seen reenacting the SignatureScene from [[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]] where the titular ape climbs the Empire State Building swatting at an airplane.
256	*** Leo mentions to Dot and Gumley that he co-starred in a movie with Tarzan called ''Guess Who's For Dinner?'', an obvious take-off on [[Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?]]
257	** ''Dot in Space'' begins with an [[Franchise/StarWars opening crawl in outer space]], and later in the film, Dot asks a mustached stranger if he knows where she could find The Party [[ActuallyIAmHim to which the stranger replies that she's already found him]], which may possibly be a reference to Luke asking Ben Kenobi if he knows where he could find Obi-Wan in ''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope]]''.
258	*** Gorgo, the alien dinosaur feared by the inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared, may be this to [[Film/{{Gorgo}} the titular monster of the eponymous 1961 film.]]
259	*** Dot and Whyka being attacked by hostile trees could be this to the scary forest sequence in ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
260	* ShownTheirWork: ''Dot and Keeto'' correctly identifies male mosquitoes as sap suckers and female mosquitoes as the blood suckers.
261	* SnapBack:
262	** At the end of ''Around the World with Dot'' she [[spoiler: finds the kangaroo's missing joey and is ready to take him back to her]]. In ''Dot and the Bunny'' [[spoiler: her joey is still gone]] -- though the latter is set up as more of an AlternateContinuity, as a dream by a girl (likely another live-action version of Dot) who's just started reading the book.
263	* TakeMeToYourLeader: Inverted and forced in ''Dot in Space'' when Dot is captured by the Roundies.
264	* ThoseTwoGuys:
265	** Alex and Owen in ''Dot and the Whale''.
266	** Also the two boys from ''Dot and the Smugglers''.
267	* TimePortal: This might explain Dot's encounters with movie stars of the 1930s/40s/50s in ''Dot Goes to Hollywood'' ([[AnachronismStew which was released in 1987 and has to be set in 1959 at the earliest, given the appearance of a Qantas jet airliner]]), that is, if TimeTravel doesn't of course.
268	* TimeTravel: It's certainly possible and may explain why the sequels are set in the mid 20th Century (at the earliest) as opposed to the late-19th Century setting of the original film yet Dot is still alive and still a child.
269	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom:
270	** Dot's brother Simon is responsible for the events of ''Dot and Keeto''; he bullies Dot's insect friends in various ways such as trying to drown a caterpillar in a watering can and stomping on an ant's nest, prompting her to stop him and apologize to the ants for his actions and while doing so, she gets the roots confused and eats the red one, shrinking herself down to bug-size, spending the rest of the day trying to find the green root that will restore her to her normal size while trying to avoid being crushed and eaten and finding whatever creepy-crawlies she can rely on like Keeto and Butterwalk. Worst of all, by destroying the ants' nest, he made Dot the scapegoat when she gets captured by the Queen Ant's soldiers and when she tries to apologize to the ants on his behalf, they reject it and subject her to a lifetime of slavery. If he had just left Dot's insect friends alone, none of the aforementioned events would have happened.
271	** The Russians (and, to a certain degree, the Americans) in ''Dot in Space''. The Russians sending Whyka into space and being unable to rescue her (or possibly not being bothered) and the Americans nearly repeating the Russians' mistake by planning to send Buster to the Moon is what leads to Dot attempting to rescue Whyka only for the both of them to become stranded on an alien planet (one that is basically an extraterrestrial Nazi Germany to boot), because by blowing up Whyka's rocket, the Russians caused a shockwave that sent the rocket Dot used to rescue her off course.
272	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
273	** Ben disappears after the ''Ingenuity'' song sequence in ''Around the World with Dot''.
274	** The bat who is an {{Expy}} of {{Literature/Zorro}} is never seen again after he vandalizes the "Back the Dam" posters in ''Dot and the Koala''. We don't even see him among the protesting bush animals.
275	** The brown cat that teased Whyka during her astronaut training in ''Dot in Space'' disappears after Whyka chases it onto a tightrope.
276	* WhenTreesAttack: Dot and Whyka encounter hostile (and seemingly possessed) trees while on the run in ''Dot in Space''.
277	* WorldOfJerkass:
278	** Practically all of the barn animal townsfolk in ''Dot and the Koala'' are [[FantasticRacism prejudiced jerks to the bush animals]] and are dismissive of their concerns about losing their homes but what they don't realize is that if the dam had been completed, it would've resulted in negative consequences for not only the bush animals' side, but their own side as well, because the dam they're proposing is actually a wall to block the flow of the water, and by doing so, [[TooDumbToLive they'd be cutting off their own water supply.]]
279	*** The townsfolk are even jerks to ''each other'', as showcased when an elderly goat shoots off a DeathGlare to a rooster [[UngratefulBastard who saved him from getting run over]] [[DrivesLikeCrazy during Mayor Percy's road rage]], and when [[NoSympathy Sherlock Bones makes a weight loss joke at Mayor Percy's expense]] [[HelpImStuck when the latter gets stuck in an underground tunnel that the bush animals dug in an attempt to destroy the dam.]]
280	** With a few exceptions such as Keeto the mosquito and Butterwalk the caterpillar, almost every insect Dot encounters in ''Dot and Keeto'' intend to eat her (i.e. Nasty the Wasp, the spider), enslave her (i.e. The Queen Ant and her soldiers), or are just plain haughty jerks in general (i.e. the cockroaches).
281	** The Roundies in ''Dot in Space'' (except Roley, of course), with Papa Drop and the Roundy Sergeant being the biggest jerks of them all.
282	*** The Squaries (except for Poley and her mother) were this at first, as after Dot gets thrown into the Prison for Squaries by Papa Drop and the Roundies, they accuse her of being a Roundy spy before Poley's mother stands up for her. [[spoiler: Of course, they change their tune after Dot helps the Party and the reformed Roundy army (with the possible exception for the Sergeant) free them from their imprisonment and dethrone Papa Drop, as they can be seen waving goodbye to Dot and Whyka as they prepare to leave for Earth.]]

Context WesternAnimation / DotAndTheKangaroo