Film adaptations

The book was adapted into a film in 1977 which featured a combination of animation

Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 and live-action. The main character, Dot, was voiced by Barbara Frawley

Barbara Frawley

Barbara Frawley is an Australian character actress.She is best known as the voice of young Dot in the 1977 film adaptation of Dot and the Kangaroo, as well as Around the World with Dot and Dot and the Bunny...

. The film also featured Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan

Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...

 as the voice of Platypus. The movie featured an original soundtrack including several lyrical melodies composed by Bob Young, John Palmer and Marion Von Alderstein. The movie backdrop was filmed on location in and around the Jenolan Caves

Jenolan Caves

The Jenolan Caves are caves in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; 175 kilometres west of Sydney. They are the most celebrated of several similar groups in the limestone of the country being the oldest discovered open caves in the world...

 of the Blue Mountains in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Although the film uses many of the same elements as other animated children's musicals involving animals, such as many of the Disney classics from the United States, the film is essentially Australian in its use of icons and accents. It also references Indigenous Australian culture in some scenes which depict animation of cave paintings and aboriginal dancing. The film was a success and allowed Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross is an Australian producer of children’s and family entertainment. The company is best known for producing Blinky Bill and Dot and the Kangaroo.- History :...

 to enlarge his production company and market his family films in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Additionally, the film's use of animation set against photographic backgrounds established the style for many of his later films.

Soundtrack

Lyrics by John Palmer:

• "Dreamtime"
• "Quark Ducks"
• "The Bunyip (Bunyip Moon)"
• "Platypus Duet"
• "Click-ity Click"
• "In The Kangaroo Pouch"

Lyrics by Marion Von Alderstein

• "I'm a Frog"

Additional lyrics by Bob Young.

Recorded by Maurie Wilmore.

Sequels

Another eight movies in the series were made by the Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross

Yoram Gross is an Australian producer of children’s and family entertainment. The company is best known for producing Blinky Bill and Dot and the Kangaroo.- History :...

 studios by 1994. The theme behind all of the films in the Dot series is the negative impact of humanity on animal life

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

 in nature.

The complete series of films are as follows:

• 1977 - Dot and the Kangaroo
• 1981 - Around the World with Dot
• 1983 - Dot and the Bunny
• 1985 - Dot and the Koala
• 1986 - Dot and Keeto
• 1986 - Dot and the Whale
  Dot and the Whale
  Dot and the Whale is an Australian animated film from 1986. It is based on the character Dot from the animated film Dot and the Kangaroo , which in turn was based on the children's book of the same name by Ethel Pedley.-Plot:...
  
  
• 1987 - Dot and the Smugglers
• 1987 - Dot Goes to Hollywood
  Dot Goes to Hollywood
  Dot Goes to Hollywood is a 1987 Australian film directed by Yoram Gross.-Plot:Yoram Gross's eighth Dot movie finds us in Australia with Dot and a koala named Gumley dancing and singing in the streets. There are signs that tell of an epidemic that is going around. It is an eye disease and it is...
  
  
• 1994 - Dot in Space

Release

A DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 version of the film was released on 30 October 2001. In the 1980s, the first 7 films were released on video in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, the first three by CBS/Fox Video

CBS/Fox Video

CBS/Fox Video was a home video company formed and established in 1982, as a merger between 20th Century Fox Video, formerly Magnetic Video Corporation, and CBS Video Enterprises....

 and the next four by Family Home Entertainment

Family Home Entertainment

Family Home Entertainment was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California.-General information:...

 (possibly the only Australian cartoons to be released on home video by the company). In Australia there is a complete series DVD set of all the Dot films.
The various films were shown on The Disney Channel in the late 1980s through the 1990s.

Links

• PDF of the (public domain
  Public domain
  Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
  
  ) text.
• Dot character page at Yoram Gross
  Yoram Gross
  Yoram Gross is an Australian producer of children’s and family entertainment. The company is best known for producing Blinky Bill and Dot and the Kangaroo.- History :...
  
  website (with original illustrations)

External links

• 1977 -
• 1981 -
• 1983 -
• 1985 -
• 1986 -
• 1986 -
• 1987 -
• 1987 -
• 1994 -