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 Yoram Gross' 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.
Character sheet in progress.
Tropes in Dot and the Kangaroo (and the Dot series in general):
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: In Pedley's original novel, 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.
- Adapted Out: Kangaroo never finds her joey (whereas in the book by strange coincidence 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, with the latter explicitly mentioning he was sent to a zoo overseas. It is possible the latter is set up as an Alternate Continuity, see Snap Back below. Either that, or the events of Dot and the Bunny chronologically precede those of Around the World with Dot.
- Animated Musical: This also applies to the sequels, except Dot in Space.
- Art Shift:
- During the Bunyip Song, the movie switches to more surreal character art based around Aboriginal-style depictions of the titular beast.
- 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 anime-influenced look.
- Beware the Nice Ones:
- Dot is a Friend to All Living Things and is 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.
- There's also the Kangaroo, who is the kindest out of all the bush creatures Dot meets, but she is also willing to protect her as if she were her own joey, and 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.
- Bittersweet Ending: 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).
- Celebrity Cameo: Dot meets Spike Milligan in trailers for the movie.
- Chasing a Butterfly: In this case, a marsupial mouse, this is how Dot gets lost in the book and film.
- Covers Always Lie:
- 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.
- A DVD cover for the original film depicts Dot with blonde hair like her counterpart in the original novel.
- 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.
- 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.
- A North American VHS cover for Around the World with Dot depicts Dot wearing a green dress, though this was probably meant to tie-in with the movie's Christmas theme.
- 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.
- A DVD cover of Dot and the Bunny depicts Dot wearing a pink dress.
- A storybook adaptation of the same movie depicts Dot's dress as a single piece of clothing instead of her usual pinafore and sweater.
- A DVD cover of Dot and the Whale depicts the perpetually barefoot Dot wearing sandals.
- 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.
- The Family Home Entertainment VHS release of Dot and the Smugglers lists the runtime as 75 minutes, even the actual runtime is 60 minutes.
- The VHS cover and a book adaptation of Dot in Space depict Dot in outer space 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.
- Crosscast Role: The Kangaroo is clearly played by a male in the live action footage.
- Deadly Dingos: 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.
- Disney Acid Sequence / "The Villain Sucks" Song : The Bunyip Song ("Bunyip Moon").
- Disney Villain Death: One of the dingos falls into a chasm while chasing Dot and the kangaroo.
- Earthy Barefoot Character: Dot's perpetual lack of footwear helps to establish that she's closer to nature than most people.
- Farmer's Daughter: Dot, since her grandfather is also known as Jack the Farmhand.
- Foreshadowing:
- The frogs are attacked by crocodiles at the end of their "I Am" Song. In Dot and the Bunny, the crocodiles get an "I Am" Song of their own, right before attempting to eat Dot and Funny-Bunny.
- 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.
- Around the World with Dot and Dot and the Bunny to Dot and the Whale.
- 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.
- 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.
- Also Around the World with Dot to Dot and the Smugglers and Dot Goes to Hollywood.
- Both Around the World with Dot and Dot and the Smugglers feature Dot and her friends infiltrating a circus, in the latter, Dot frees the imprisoned circus animals.
- In both Around the World with Dot and Dot Goes to Hollywood, Dot travels to America where she infiltrates a zoo to rescue one of her animal friends (Joey the kangaroo, Gumley the koala).
- 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.
- Free-Range Children: Dot, even though she gets lost as a result here, she becomes increasingly so in the sequels.
- Hard Head: Dot's tumble down the embankment ends with her striking a tree headfirst but she suffers no ill effects whatsoever.
- 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.
- "I Am" Song: "I'm a Frog" in the first film, with this trope becoming a recurring theme with most of the animals Dot meets.
- Intellectual Animal: Especially the platypus couple with their insistence on using their species' Latin name.
- Jerkass Realization: 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.
- Kangaroo Pouch Ride: There's even a song about it.
- Kangaroos Represent Australia: Though ironically enough, the Kangaroo's original voice actress, Joan Bruce, was British.
- Literal Cliffhanger: The kangaroo does this after jumping a chasm.
- Mood Whiplash:
- A, brief, upbeat ("Clickity-Click") song by Willy Wagtail... followed immediately by the unhappy ending!
- Also, a scene where Dot's parents are mourning her is sandwiched between "Clickity-Click" and its reprise.
- 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.
- The insect-sized Dot singing about Little Things in Dot and Keeto, only to then get attacked by a crow and a cat.
- 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.
- Nobody Poops: Averted; Dot whispers to the kangaroo, which she responds with "Anywhere you like, dear", followed by Dot making a Potty Dance gesture.
- Prefers Going Barefoot:
- Dot is always barefoot in all the movies.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Dot is always barefoot in all the movies.
- Puzzling Platypus: Mr. and Mrs. Platypus singing about their peculiar qualities, as an "Ornithorhynchus paradoxus" (an outdated Latin name for the platypus).
- Roger Rabbit Effect:
- 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 here
in Dot Goes To Hollywood. - 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.
- 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 here
- Shaking the Rump: A koala does this during the Red Kangaroo sequence.
- Snakes Are Sinister:
- A snake coils around Dot's legs and is prepared to bite her just before the kookaburra swoops down and saves her.
- 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.
- Speaks Fluent Animal:
- In the book, Dot does after eating some 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.)
- Thunder Equals Downpour:
- Not what you want when lost in the forest.
- Happens again in Dot and the Bunny. She has to take refuge in a wallaby cave.
- And again in Dot in Space when she escapes from the Prison for Squaries.
- Watch Out for That Tree!: 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.
Tropes the sequels have:
- Abusive Parents:
- Implied with the mother and child travelling by plane in Around the World with Dot.
- Papa Drop in Dot in Space threatens to put his son Roley in prison for opposing his Fantastic Racism against Squaries, 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.
- Accidental Astronaut: Though Dot had to kind of orchestrate herself becoming this in order to rescue Whyka in Dot in Space.
- Adults Are Useless:
- 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).
- This is particularly emphasized in Dot and the Whale.
- Agony of the Feet:
- 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.
- 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.
- A Bound and Gagged Dot stamps on Professor Globus' foot in Dot in Space.
- In the aforementioned movie, Whyka bites a Roundy soldier's foot when they're trying to recapture her and Dot.
- Alien Sky: 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.
- Aliens Speaking English: 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.
- Alliterative Name: The name of the circus in Dot and the Smugglers is "Amazing Aussie Animals".
- Anachronism Stew: The last two sequels Dot Goes to Hollywood and Dot in Space suffer from this:
- 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 Marilyn Monroe, who wasn't a Hollywood film star until 1945, and Dot briefly reenacts the
Signature Scene from The Seven Year Itch, which wasn't released until 1955.- 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 Anachronism Stew of Dot in Space as it is reused in said movie.
- Leo mentions that he was in a movie with Tarzan called Guess Who's for Dinner?, a take-off of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, which wasn't released in theaters until 1967.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Marilyn Monroe, who wasn't a Hollywood film star until 1945, and Dot briefly reenacts the
- 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 Barefoot Gen film adaptation, and gave her a very Tezuka-esque design, being slightly shorter with bigger eyes and a more expressive face.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Dot briefly turns into a giant before shrinking down to insect-size in Dot and Keeto.
- Badass Adorable: 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.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: 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. It's kind of disappointing for those who expected the original terrifying, mysterious creature of the first film.
- Bloodless Carnage:
- 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.
- Dot's foot just gets a poisonous barb stuck in it with no bleeding or lasting injury in Dot and the Whale.
- Bound and Gagged:
- 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.
- 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 Painful Adhesive Removal for her when she is subjected to interrogation.
- Bowdlerized: Around the World with Dot and Dot Goes to Hollywood seem to have went through this:
- In the North American release, the scene where the boy's mother gets angry at him for accidentally making her spill coffee has been cut from the film possibly due to humorous depictions of child abuse, which is deemed too inappropriate for family viewing.
- 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.
- 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.
- But Now I Must Go: Danny the Swagman in Around the World with Dot.
- Canon Discontinuity: This is possible for the following reasons.
- 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.
- 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.
- In Around the World with Dot, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Cats Are Mean:
- 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.
- The insect-sized Dot is briefly terrorised by a cat in Dot and Keeto.
- Averted with Leo the former MGM lion in Dot Goes to Hollywood.
- Whyka is teased by a brown cat during her astronaut training in Dot in Space.
- Celebrity Cameo: Dot Goes to Hollywood has Dot meet such famous names as Laurel and Hardy, Shirley Temple, James Cagney, among others. Of course, Dot is either animated into clips of their films, or the stars themselves become animated.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome:
- Dot's father and Jack the Farmhand.
- Dot's brother Ben from Around the World with Dot.
-
Completely Different Title:- Around the World with Dot is alternatively known as Dot and Santa Claus.
- In Spanish, the film's title translates to The Great Journey.
- To a lesser extent, Dot and the Smugglers is alternatively known as Dot and the Bunyip.
- Around the World with Dot is alternatively known as Dot and Santa Claus.
- Crapsack World: 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 Nazi Germany.
- Darker and Edgier:
- 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 Lighter and Softer compared to the original.
- Dot in Space is the only sequel not to be an Animated Musical 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.
- Death World: Crossing over with Crapsack World, the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in Dot in Space, aside from having devastated villages and a dictatorship influenced by Fantastic Racism, also has dangerous obstacles such as quicksand, hostile ''possessed'' trees, 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.
- Demoted to Extra: Dot doesn't appear in Dot and the Koala until the last half hour.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: 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 Nazi Germany, with the main villain of the film Papa Drop behaving in a similar manner to Adolf Hitler, one of the Roundy interrogators performing the Nazi salute, and the persecution of the Squaries under Papa Drop's regime being eerily similar to how the Jews were maltreated during the Holocaust. We should be thankful we never find out what Papa Drop's version of the Final Solution 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 World War II.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Dot Goes to Hollywood, ostensibly to raise funds for a life-saving operation for her increasingly ill koala friend Gumley.
- Fantastic Racism:
- 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 wearing a t-shirt saying "Marsupials Stink".
- The Roundies against the Squaries in Dot in Space, under the influence of Papa Drop. Dot herself is arrested for not being round enough.
- Fat and Skinny:
- The fish store owners in Dot and the Whale.
- Dot and the Smugglers has the circus owners Mr. Spragg (fat) and Scarface (skinny).
- Also in Dot and the Smugglers, there's the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot. The tall, bespectacled one who wears shoes (skinny) and the short one who Prefers Going Barefoot (fat).
- Fiery Redhead: 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.
- Four-Fingered Hands:
- Dot doesn't always have the right number of fingers and toes in the sequels.
- 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.
- Great Escape: Dot breaking out of the Prison for Squares in Dot in Space.
- Help, I'm Stuck!:
- 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.
- 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.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters:
- In Dot And the Koala, the animal-like townspeople acted no different when they and their mayor wanted to build a hydro-electric dam over the native animal's homes.
- The two fishermen in Dot and the Whale, who wanted to sell the whale as food.
- How Funny-Bunny was orphaned in Dot and the Bunny. His parents were shot by hunters.
- Inexplicable Language Fluency: The civilised inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared (basically the Roundies and the Squaries) in Dot in Space.
- Insufficiently Advanced Alien: The inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared in Dot in Space have perfected laser guns, claim to own cars and are aware of the vast Universe beyond their planet 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. 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.
- 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.
- Invisible Parents: We see Dot's mother in Dot and Keeto but that's about it.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: 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 Oh, Crap! moment from Dot followed by the Roundies springing up out of the bushes, tying her up, gagging her and taking her to their leader.
- Kids Driving Cars:
- Played with in Dot and the Smugglers, Dot manages to rewire a submarine before it's even been launched.
- Dot is able to competently operate a rocket in Dot in Space, until she crash-lands on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared.
- Lethal Lava Land: Dot and Whyka encounter active volcanoes and geyser fields while on the run in Dot in Space.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: 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 for the rest of the series.
- Living MacGuffin:
- The Bunyip is this in Dot and the Smugglers, with the titular antagonists trying to capture it for a circus that Dot later discovers to be a front for an international wildlife-smuggling operation.
- Gorgo in Dot in Space is this to the Roundies, they question his existence until he scares them away while they're trying to recapture Dot.
- Made a Slave:
- Dot is subjected to this in Dot and Keeto and Dot in Space, though she escapes in both instances.
- Anyone who isn't round in Dot in Space as long as Papa Drop is in charge.
- Mind Your Step: 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.
- Named After Somebody Famous: 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.
- Names to Run Away From:
- Nasty the Wasp in Dot and Keeto.
- Averted with Bruiser and Basher fighting kangaroos in Dot and the Smugglers.
- Nature Hero: Dot becomes this in the sequels, with her frequently 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 Badass Adorable) in helping or protecting them when she has to— among other feats, she ends up 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 and helps to overthrow a tyrannical empire of Scary Dogmatic Aliens along the way in Dot in Space.
- Nerd Glasses:
- One of the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot in Dot and the Smugglers. Specifically the one who wears shoes.
- In Dot Goes to Hollywood, Gumley has to wear these when he is inflicted with the koala eye disease.
- Never Trust a Title: Dot & the Koala has Dot with the first billing, yet she doesn't appear in the film until the last half-hour.
- Nightmare Face:
- The angry mum sports one after her son accidentally makes her spill coffee on her face in Around the World with Dot.
- 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.
- No Biochemical Barriers: Dot and Whyka are able to breathe and function as normal on the planet Pie-Arr-Squared in Dot in Space.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: Dot has to pose in front of a roadsign in order to infiltrate the Space Center in Dot in Space.
- Non-Indicative Name: The Squares in Dot in Space aren't even square, they're actually pale blue (or light grey) aliens with Unusual Ears and Fog Feet.
- Non-Malicious Monster:
- 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.
- 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.
- To a lesser extent in Dot in Space, the Rock Monster that helps Dot and Whyka traverse through a cave, while searching for ''The Party" (Roley).
- Oddball in the Series:
- In Dot and the Koala, Dot is the only human character in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals.
- 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 Laika, and was trapped on a broken-down satellite in orbit.
- Opening Scroll: The opening credits of Dot in Space.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: 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.
- Punny Name: Pie-Arr-Squared, the name of the planet Dot and Whyka crash-land on in Dot in Space, is a reference to Ï€ × r2— the mathematical formula used to measure the area of a circle.
- Quicksand Sucks: 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.
- Recycled Animation:
- 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.
- A sequence of Dot running from the original film is reused twice in Dot and the Bunny.
- 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)
- Recycled with a Gimmick: Dot in Space (1994), the last film in the series.
- Remember the New Guy?: Dot's brother Ben in Around the World with Dot.
- Replacement Goldfish: At the end of Dot and the Bunny the mommy kangaroo, who never did find her joey, adopts the orphaned bunny.
- Retcon:
- 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.
- In Dot and the Koala, Dot is the only human character, everyone else is an anthropomorphic animal.
- Dot's brother Ben is renamed Simon in Dot and Keeto.
- Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: Most of the later films are more lighthearted than the first three installments.
- Ripped from the Headlines: 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.
- Rock Monster: Dot and Whyka encounter a whole cave full of these in Dot in Space. Thankfully, the creatures in question were resting, and one of them helped Dot and Whyka traverse the cave.
- Scary Dogmatic Aliens: Papa Drop and the Roundies in Dot in Space. At least they would be to a little girl like Dot, especially when they get right in her face.
- Shout-Out:
- In the sequels, Dot could easily pass for an Australian child version of 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.
- To Goldilocks and the Three Bears with the Russian bears, and Mickey Mouse when Walter the mouse pulls his ears in Around the World with Dot.
- Speaking of Mickey Mouse, both him and 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.
- Walter has the same middle initial and last name as Timothy.
- Walter's claims about mice being agents working inside the United Nations may be a reference to The Rescuers (which, coincidentally, was released in the same year as the original film.)
- Sherlock Bones and Doctor Watson in Dot and the Koala.
- Dot and the Koala and Dot in Space may both be references to the works of George Orwell.
- Mayor Percy being a pig and the leader of the barn animals in Dot and the Koala and the Fantastic Racism towards the bush animals in said film and the Squaries in Dot in Space (not to mention Roley's last line being "Everyone is equal!" before sending Dot and Whyka back to Earth) may all be references to Animal Farm.
- The planet Pie-Arr-Squared under the regime of the main antagonist of Dot in Space Papa Drop and his son Roley's alter-ego The Party may both be references to 1984.
- 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 Alice in Wonderland.
- Fittingly, Dot is renamed "Alice" in the Brazilian dub of the series.
- Also in Dot and Keeto, the insect-sized Dot refers to Lilliput during the Little Things song sequence.
- Listen carefully to the cockroaches during their Villain Song, they may be a reference to the Daleks from ''Doctor Who''.
- Dot pleads to Moby-Dick for help after reading about him in Dot and the Whale.
- In Dot and the Smugglers, one of the titular smugglers is called Scarface.
- The titular smugglers and the two boys who are shown to be friends with Dot build a submarine and paint it yellow.
- A Shout-Out to Shakespeare in Dot Goes to Hollywood, where Dot attempts to recite lines from Romeo & Juliet, but without success.
- Speaking of Dot Goes to Hollywood, the film is riddled with references to classic Hollywood films. Dot briefly re-enacts the Signature Scene from The Seven Year Itch starring 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 the Mummy. Clips from films in the Public Domain such as The Flying Deuces and The Little Princess are used for the dance sequences with Dot dancing along. Also during the song "Idols of Hollywood", Kong the monkey can be seen reenacting the Signature Scene from King Kong where the titular ape climbs the Empire State Building swatting at an airplane.
- 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 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
- Speaking of Dot Goes to Hollywood, the film is riddled with references to classic Hollywood films. Dot briefly re-enacts the
- Dot in Space begins with an opening crawl in outer space, and later in the film, Dot asks a mustached stranger if he knows where she could find The Party 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 Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.
- Gorgo, the alien dinosaur feared by the inhabitants of Pie-Arr-Squared, may be this to the titular monster of the eponymous 1961 film.
- Dot and Whyka being attacked by hostile trees could be this to the scary forest sequence in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
- Shown Their Work: Dot and Keeto correctly identifies male mosquitoes as sap suckers and female mosquitoes as the blood suckers.
- Snap Back:
- At the end of Around the World with Dot she finds the kangaroo's missing joey and is ready to take him back to her. In Dot and the Bunny her joey is still gone — though the latter is set up as more of an Alternate Continuity, as a dream by a girl (likely another live-action version of Dot) who's just started reading the book.
- Take Me to Your Leader: Inverted and forced in Dot in Space when Dot is captured by the Roundies.
- Those Two Guys:
- Alex and Owen in Dot and the Whale.
- Also the two boys from Dot and the Smugglers.
- Time Portal: This might explain Dot's encounters with movie stars of the 1930s/40s/50s in Dot Goes to Hollywood (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 Time Travel doesn't of course.
- Time Travel: 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.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- 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.
- 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.
- What Happened to the Mouse?:
- Ben disappears after the Ingenuity song sequence in Around the World with Dot.
- The bat who is an Expy of 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.
- The brown cat that teased Whyka during her astronaut training in Dot in Space disappears after Whyka chases it onto a tightrope.
- When Trees Attack: Dot and Whyka encounter hostile (and seemingly possessed) trees while on the run in Dot in Space.
- World of Jerkass:
- Practically all of the barn animal townsfolk in Dot and the Koala are 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, they'd be cutting off their own water supply.
- The townsfolk are even jerks to each other, as showcased when an elderly goat shoots off a Death Glare to a rooster who saved him from getting run over during Mayor Percy's road rage, and when Sherlock Bones makes a weight loss joke at Mayor Percy's expense when the latter gets stuck in an underground tunnel that the bush animals dug in an attempt to destroy the dam.
- 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).
- The Roundies in Dot in Space (except Roley, of course), with Papa Drop and the Roundy Sergeant being the biggest jerks of them all.
- 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. 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.
- Practically all of the barn animal townsfolk in Dot and the Koala are 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, they'd be cutting off their own water supply.
