Dorg Van Dango - a normal kid in a normal town, until four magical beings ESCAPED from a top secret compound and CRASHED into his life! Disguising them as regular kids, Dorg's world is about to become WAY! MORE! MAGICAL!
So goes the Expository Theme Tune of this Irish-Canadian co-production by Ireland's legendary Cartoon Saloon and Canadian kids TV juggernaut WildBrain created by Fabian Erlinghäuser. And as the exposition above explains, the show follows the eponymous Dorg Van Dango, a thirteen-year-old boy who lives in the relatively quiet town of Normill. One day, his world is turned upside down by the arrival of four supernatural beings - unicorn Jet Lazor, amorphous alien RD, Bedsheet Ghost Yooki and inept witch Patronella - who have escaped from the government facility Area 52. Dorg immediately accepts them as his friends, dubbing them The Magicals and disguising them to blend in amongst humans, while also finding a secret hangout place under the mall for them to stay and him to meet them when no one's looking. And so, Dorg and his pals navigate all sorts of challenges, whether it be the Magicals trying to help Dorg solve his everyday problems or Dorg having to deal with the risk of his new buddies being exposed by mall owner Munch, as well as Dorg's own doting mother Fretta and annoying little sister Voulez.
The show debuted in Ireland on RTÉ in 2020, making its way to Family Channel (owned by WildBrain) in Canada that same year and also airing on various Nickelodeon feeds worldwide.
The series shows examples of the following tropes:
- Aliens Among Us: One of the Magicals, RD, is an alien.
- Ambiguously Brown: Fretta has a noticeably darker complexion than either of her two children.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Voulez Van Dango, Dorg's sister.
- Berserk Button: Whatever you do, DON'T look under Yooki's sheet. Also, don't remind Jet he's the Last of His Kind though he's more likely to cry than get angry if you do so.
- Blind Without 'Em: The first episode (aptly titled "Dorg Needs New Glasses") shows how reliant Dorg is on his glasses - and only his glasses.
- Disappeared Dad: Dorg and Voulez's father is never seen and it's not explained what happened to him either.
- The Ditz: RD's not the brightest of the Magicals.
- Does Not Like Spam: The episode "Dorg Hates Olives" involves Dorg trying to stomach his mother's "olive surprise", which she wants him to eat every last scrap of.
- Expository Theme Tune: See above.
- Expressive Mask: Dorg's glasses are somewhat like this as his eyebrows can be shown overlapping them when he's displaying certain emotions.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Not counting Token Human Dorg, the gang is evenly split - two male characters (Jet and RD) and two female (Yooki and Patronella).
- Girlish Pigtails: Yooki's disguise has these.
- Greaser Delinquents: Subverted/downplayed with Jet. He may have a stereotypical greaser look and a bit of an attitude, but he's actually a nice guy.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Jet.
- Hypnotic Creature: Jet has the power to hypnotise others.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Every episode title starts with "Dorg".
- Idiosyncratic Wipes: Scenes often transition using a minimalist version of Dorg's face - or one of the Magicals if the previous scene involved them.
- Inept Mage: Patronella can't cast a spell to save her life. Though losing her wand a long time ago and having to make do with miscellaneous blunt objects (enchanted with one of Jet's bodily substances, often his saliva) may have something to do with it.
- Kid from the Future: In "Dorg Rewinds", after overshooting with Patronella's time potion, Dorg ends up thirteen years in the past. He meets his own pregnant mother and seems to be unwittingly responsible for his own name simply by introducing himself.Dorg: It's me, Dorg!Fretta: You must have me confused with someone else.Fretta pauses and thinks while Dorg runs off.Fretta: Hmm, but Dorg is a cute name.
- Kid Hero: Dorg is thirteen years old.
- Kiddie Kid: Dorg has shades of this.
- Last of His Kind: Jet, the last unicorn.
- Limited Wardrobe
- Manchild: RD is quite excitable though it's not known if he's an adult of his species.
- Nothing Is Scarier: We never see what's under Yooki's sheet, although she has willingly shown it to Dorg twice (first in an attempt to scare him "Dorg Wants a Scare" and to give him a ghostly pallor to fake being sick in "Dorg Wants a Day Off", she's seen from behind both times). She doesn't take off her disguise either time.
- Yooki seems to consider her new outfit to be part of her body. In a Halloween Episode, after seeing Patronella wear her old outfit as a Halloween costume, Yooki changes into an exact copy of her disguise.
- Objectshifting:
- Dorg is accidentally turned into a golf ball by Patronella in an attempt to make him a better golfer in the episode "Dorg Plays Mini Golf".
- Patronella gets turned into a tuba by a magical electric guitar Yooki conjured in "Dorg Wants to Shred". She's back to normal by the episode's end.
- Punny Name: Jet Lazor and the town of Normill itself.
- Rainbows and Unicorns: A lot of Jet's bodily substances, such as his spit and farts, are rainbow-hued. It also shows in the Mind-Control Eyes of victims of his hypnosis powers.
- Really 700 Years Old: Patronella is 400 years old as described in official media but doesn't look it. Similarly, the youthful-looking Yooki (who has been described as the youngest Magical in official media) reveals she is 214 years old after possessing a pickle in "Dorg's in a Pickle".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Yooki does this when she's angry or in the process of scaring someone, complete with evil voice.
- Refugee from TV Land: In "Dorg and the Last Supperman", an attempt by the Magicals to get Dorg the last issue of Supperman brings the title character to life. However, he proves to be more of a force of destruction than good in the real world.
- Same Clothes, Different Year: In the flashback to young Dorg trying his mother's "olive surprise" for the first time, he still has his trademark glasses and orange sweater.
- Shapeshifting: RD is capable of this. He can either do it himself or do it after being stretched by the other characters. The intro shows the latter example.
- Skintone Sclerae: Dorg is the only character to have these, being revealed when he's not wearing glasses, thus an example of the trope of nearsighted cartoon characters being depicted this way.
- Swiss-Army Tears: Exaggerated with Jet as every substance his body produces has magical qualities. As a Running Gag, Patronella uses them as ingredients in her spells much to his annoyance.
- Technicolor Magic: Patronella's spells produce purple smoke.
- Theme Tune Roll Call: The intro features the instrumental variant of this trope after the Expository Theme Tune.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Jet loves apples.
- Vague Age: Though Dorg is explicitly stated to be thirteen years old, Voulez's age doesn't seem to be specified.
- Weirdness Censor: Though RD and Patronella arguably pass well for humans when disguised, bystanders don't seem to notice that Jet and Yooki are a unicorn and a ghost respectively.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Normill is most likely North American, given that this show was co-produced in Canada and Dorg's mom runs a 98¢ store.
- Witch Classic: Patronella's undisguised outfit.
