I was going through my Netflix this evening and up popped DOT AND THE KANGAROO…immediately I got a jolt up my spine and my palms started sweating. How could just seeing the box cover of this innocent sounding animated musical cause me so much strife? Well, it all started back in the early ‘80s on cable television…
Some youngsters claim it was the monstrous Bunyip from DOT that gave them nightmares…but not me. I've always loved monsters. For me it was the Aboriginal tribe that Dot and her kangaroo pal spy on.
The way I remember it, the tribe was performing a hunting ceremony around a fire. One tribesman was draped in a kangaroo skin and dancing around while the hunters advanced on him with boomerangs and spears. The didgeridoo was droning on and on and the hunting dogs were howling at the moon….the hunters raised their weapons and the tribesman/kangaroo was actually sacrificed as Dot and her kangaroo watched in horror!  There was blood and screaming and a dying man draped in a freaking kangaroo hide thrashing around…it was horrible! Then Dot and the kangaroo were attacked by the hunting dogs…Dear Christ, make it stop! I watched the last bit of the movie huddled in the couch cushions too scared to look back at the screen until the next musical number.
How could this happen in a movie with singing koalas and platypuses? Wasn't ritualistic murder too much for children to handle?! *
That was it…I never watched DOT again. And get this, every time I hear a freakin' didgeridoo I think of that hollow eyed kangaroo skin wrapped around a bloody and broken Aborigine…creepy stuff. I hate the didgeridoo…and Dot…and her stupid kangaroo.
*Apparently it was. After typing my traumafession I hopped on over to YouTube to find the horrible scene that has haunted me for over 20 years (you can find it at the end of part 9 and beginning of part 10)…there's no murder…but I could have sworn…
UNK SEZ: Take heart Mr. Canacorn, you are not the only one blindsided by the misleadingly child-friendly DOT, this came from our pal Absinthe of GLOOMY SUNDAY fame, who apparently DID find issue with the Bunyips you mentioned…
"It was one of the Dot movies – I still haven't determined which one it was – they were Australian kids movies featuring animation and live action. I'm thinking it was either DOT AND THE KANGAROO or DOT AND THE KOALA but the scene that got me was there was some kind of Australian evil spirit in a cave. And I'm pretty fuzzy about the details but I know it really got me when I was younger and supposedly watching "safe" TV. This one was once again, endless nightmares and thinking the evil little aboriginal thingys were coming to get me…"
Now Absinthe, you may want to sit down (and bolt your window and doors) before you watch this next clip from DOT AND THE KANGAROO…
The Awesome Mr. Canacorn can be found at AWESOMENESS FOR AWESOME'S SAKE and the lovely Absinthe haunts GLOOMY SUNDAY.
I found out that some people hear a similarity between the Bunyip song and this tune….
Ahhh you found the evil little things that haunted me. Bunyips – how could something with such a cute name be soo horrible?? This only goes to prove that the people who made cartoons in the late 70's – early 80's where definitely on drugs.
OH NO!!! I haven't thought about that cave sequence in YEARS! *shudder* I agree with Absinthe–the producers of this stuff were SURELY in the grips of a terrible drug.
That's some pretty fucked-up shit right there, tell you what.
Holy shit… that just… I mean I remember watching that, probably on HBO… I repressed this… and now…
Damn you my favorite aunt and unkle! Damn you Kindertrauma! Damn you to an unknown ring of Hades. (not really. I love this shit.)
Thanks for dredging that up from the core of my wounded psyche. Thanks a whole bunch.Â