Dooly The Little Dinosaur is a South Korean comics character created by Kim Soo-jung. Dooly was later adapted as an animated series in 1987 (by Hanho Heung-Up with assistance from AKOM, Shin Dong-heon Productions, and Sam Young Animation), with a new series in 2008 (animated by Dong Woo Animation). The official site can be found here.
Dooly is a baby dinosaur who got magical powers after aliens kidnapped and experimented on him. He was sent back to Earth, but got trapped in a glacier for 100 million years; when the glaciers retreated, he found his way to Seoul.
In Seoul, he's found by a girl named Younghee, who thinks he's a doll and takes him home with her. He lives with her elder brother Chulsoo, and her father Kildong. Kildong hates Dooly and beats him whenever Dooly annoys him.
Despite being a dinosaur, Dooly is a mischievous kid who likes to eat and play, is loyal to his friends, and who misses his mother. He is always biting his tongue. He doesn't know why the aliens gave him superpowers, or quite know how to use them deliberately, but in times of danger he is able to use them. He does this by pointing his right finger and yelling, Hoihoi!
Dooly has four friends who Kildong also hates and beats (except Heedong).
- Heedong came to live with Uncle Kildong after his parents went abroad to study. He misses his mom everyday, but is happily entertained by Dooly. He isn't afraid of anything, and bites and scratches when someone makes him angry.
- Douner the Prince of Planet Kanttappia made an emergency landing on the planet Earth due to the malfunctioning of his 'Time Cosmos' Spaceship (it's shaped like a violin). He's stubborn and uncomplicated, but extremely loyal. He can travel back and forth in time and space in the Time Cosmos Spaceship.
- Ddochi, an ostrich that successfully escaped from a Las Vegas circus troop, always insists that she used to be a noble lady from Africa. She is a little bit selfish, and little bit shy, but Ddochi is the most softhearted ostrich that you're likely to come across. She also insists on calling herself a girl.
- Michol Ma is aspiring singer who lives next to Kildong. His role model is Michael Jackson. His passion for singing drives his dreams, but his talent is lacking. He is quite lost in dreams most of the time, but he does know how to take care of himself.
Dooly the Little Dinosaur has examples of:
- Adaptational Species Change:
- Dooly's mother fights a Tyrannosaurus rex in the original comic. In the 80s cartoon the Tyrannosaurus gets exchanged with a mammoth, which gets exchanged with a trio of Allosaurus in the 2008 remake.
- The ceratopsian that swallows Douner was initially a Protoceratops in the comic. In the 80s cartoon it was a Centrosaurus, while in the 2008 remake it was a Triceratops.
- Alien Abduction: One episode of the 80s cartoon had Dooley being snatched by aliens for an autopsy.
- Amusing Alien: Douner is a goofy, silly alien.
- Ascended Extra: Kildong's wife is more prominent in the 2008 cartoon.
- Badass Adorable: Heedong. He is very brave, and bites and scratches pretty hard.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Kildong is constantly on the receiving end of Dooly's mischief.
- Dooley can count as a bigger one, especially because Kildong is always out to get him.
- Catchphrase: Dooley often goes "Hoi!" to make a magical trick with the flick of his finger.
- Chocolate Baby: Dooly is apparently a Ceratosaurus, but his mother is a brachiosaurus (with a horn on her nose). This was due to the fact that when the author drew Dooly's mother for the first time, he designed her based on a dinosaur that fit the motherly image and thus settled on brachiosaurus, momentarily forgetting that Dooly is a ceratosaurus. Subverted in the movie, where his mother looks just like him.
- The Ditz: Douner
- Exit, Pursued by a Bear: The episode where they travel back into the past has an evil witch who enslaved Chulsoo get pursued by a Mosasaurus.
- Freudian Trio: Dooly is the Superego, Ddochi is the Id and Douner is the Ego.
- Hollywood Prehistory: The series has mammoths and primitive humans living alongside dinosaurs 100 million years ago.
- Human Popsicle: Dooly in the glacier. Close enough.
- I Miss Mom: One of Dooly's biggest goals is to reunite with his mother. This even comes up as a lyric in his theme song.
- Informed Species:
- Many sources claim Dooly is a Ceratosaurus. While he is vaguely a bipedal dinosaur with horn on his nose, his resemblance to a ceratosaur is zilch.
- Ddochi is supposed to be an ostrich, but she looks more like some kind of white humanoid with bird-feet and a feather tail.
- One episode of the 2008 series had an orangutan which looked more like a gorilla with an orange mane.
- Is It Something You Eat?: Douner asks Dooly this in the movie regarding Heedong.
- Jerkass to One: Or Jerkass to Three. Kildong to Dooly, Douner, and Ddochi especially when he punishes them with the water bucket lifting.
- Loveable Rogue: Dooly.
- Misplaced Wildlife: An episode of the 2008 series had a chameleon and a frilled lizard living in the Amazon rainforest.
- Moral Guardians: These accused Dooly for being a bad influence on kids because he talked causally to his elders. Plus, it didn't help that Dooly often stuck his tongue out which is considered rude in Korean culture.
- The Noseless: Heedong isn't drawn with a nose.
- Phlebotinum du Jour: Dooly's origin story - alien experimentation.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Dooly and Douner both love ramen. Michael even devotes a song to it.
- Urine Trouble: Both Douner and Dooly have been peed on by Heedong at least once. It happened in the movie and the cartoon series.
- Would Hurt a Child: Kildong physically abuses Dooly and pals frequently.
