Dot (Dot and the Kangaroo)



Dot is a cute and tomboyishly beautiful little girl from Australia who goes on adventures usually involving animals in her country like a kangaroo, with the song "Red Kangaroo". She is the protagonist of every "Dot and the Kangaroo" movie, based on the book of the same name by Ethel C. Pedley and directed by Yoram Gross.

Dot is 5 years old according to the book. However, Dot's age is seldom if ever mentioned in the movies and the fact that her hair varies in length with each passing installment from the fourth film onwards suggests the possiblity that she ages slightly over the course of the series.

Dot is voiced in animated form by Barbara Frawley in the first three films and by Robyn Moore in the last six films. Ashley Ayre plays Dot in live-action form in the second and fifth films.

Appearance
In the animated movies, Dot is usually barefooted and wears a yellow dress which is occasionally torn, with white or pale-yellow collar and sleeves with white panties underneath even while sleeping and regardless of wherever her adventures may take her. Dot maintains this appearance in live-action form in "Dot and Keeto". Dot's dress appears green with white collar and sleeves in a theatrical poster for "Around the World with Dot/Dot and Santa Claus" to tie-in with the film's Christmas theme and turns red with no sleeves or collar when she briefly fantasises in "Dot Goes to Hollywood".

An exception to this norm occurs in parts of "Dot and Santa Claus" in which Dot wears a pink shirt, blue jeans and dark blue and white shoes but only in live-action form. The only other exception occurs in "Dot in Space" when Dot wears a white helmet and space-suit with brown gloves and grey boots over her normal clothes for going into space.

Personality
Dot cares very much for all creatures great and small and particularly the mother kangaroo who comes to her aid when she is lost in "Dot and the Kangaroo". Dot will go to many lengths (such as going to the polar regions or even to space) at the risk of her own life and freedom to help the animal kingdom. She also has a passion for dancing and singing.

Dot is shown to stand up for the rights of the animal kingdom and even her own rights if needs must and seize the initiative when required to, regardless of the consequences. This stems mainly from Dot learning of the dis-trust of the Animal Kingdom towards mankind in "Dot and the Kangaroo".

Dot's adventures usually involve Dot coming to the aid of a particular animal (or animals) and/or getting herself into a predicament of some sort and having to turn to the animal kingdom, her own kind or even her own initiative in times of trouble or conflict to put things right. She is shown to temporarily develop super-human abilities such as being able to breathe underwater and survive in sub-zero temperatures in "Dot and the Whale". Dot is also seen to occasionally rely on some sort of magic vegetation or magic in general which is ultimately behind her adventures and the abilities she gains along the way such as talking to animals.

​Dot and the Kangaroo
  The first and original 'Dot and the Kangaroo' film begins with Dot lost in the woods, having gone off exploring with her parents' permission only to fall down an embankment and encounter several wild animals. The frightened child is found by a mother red kangaroo who is searching for her own lost joey. The marsupial offers Dot some special vegetation which enable her to communicate with animals upon consumption. After explaining their respective predicaments to each other, the kangaroo offers to help Dot find her lost way and hops through the forest with Dot in her pouch while Dot and other animals sing "Red Kangaroo". Dot and the kangaroo make the water-hole their first stop as a means of sustainance and rest and meet various other singing animals such as ducks and frogs. The animals are initially startled by the presence of a human but prepare to arrange a meeting after Dot and the kangaroo explain why they are together.

Around the World with Dot/Dot and Santa Claus
  In the first of the Dot sequels, Dot starts off as a live-action child wearing a shirt, trousers and shoes of all things and has an older brother named Ben with whom she is looking after the animals in their garden (Dot's Zoo) until they are visited by Danny the Swagman. Once Danny has been introduced to Dot, Ben and all the animals, Dot proceeds to tell Danny all about her adventures in "Dot and the Kangaroo" and remains bitter over the kangaroo's sudden departure and missing joey. Upon hearing that Joey was last seen being taken to Japan, Dot, Ben and Danny proceed to dance and build a sleigh together while Danny sings the song "Ingenuity". Danny even dresses up as Santa Claus and he also tethers Dozey-Face and Grumble-Bones the kangaroos to the sleigh. Danny and Dot sit on the sleigh and suddenly they and the kangaroos become animated where upon Danny really is Santa Claus and Dot is back in her usual clothes. They fly over Ayre's Rock, Sydney and Queensland before leaving Australia altogether. The contrasting events of this particular sequel with those of the first film and the remaining sequels raise question marks over its canonicity.

Dot and the Bunny
  Dot's third adventure begins rather confusingly with a live-action girl who is not Dot, reading a picture book of "Dot and the Kangaroo" before going to sleep. The child is understandably distressed by what she reads and does not bother finishing the book and proceeds to turn out the lights and fall asleep. The girl immediately begins to have a dream in which she sneaks out of bed and out of her bedroom window and ventures into the woods in the middle of the night, finally sitting on a rock as the animated actual Dot seemingly approaches while searching for the lost joey of her friend, the mother red kangaroo.

Dot and the Koala
Dot does not actually appear until nearly forty minutes into the film. She is first shown at home one morning, fast asleep in her bed. This marks the first installment in which Dot is voiced by Robyn Moore.

Dot and Keeto
Dot's fifth adventure begins with her appearing in live-action form. She is walking through the woods beyond her home as usual when she notices a local boy named Simon jumping on an ant-hill and spraying it with a watering-can. Dot stands up to Simon and pushes him over for unfairly torturing bugs and he runs away. Dot feels very proud of herself at this moment but in doing so, she fails to realise the magical properties of the red root she proceeds to consume. This turns Dot back into animated form but also causes her to grow enormous before shrinking down to the size of a bug. The tiny Dot is immediately shaken by the tremors of Simon striding off and she attempts to climb onto Simon's shoe only to shaken off and dangle by his shoe-laces. Finally, Dot lets go and watches Simon stride off into the distance before taking the time to take in what has happened to her.