Google Korea decorated its logo with some special guests on April 22 last year: A grown-up man with a little green dinosaur, an alien with a red nose and yellow hair, a baby ostrich and a toddler.

Google Korea said, “We created a fun Google logo with Dooly, his enemy Kildong and his friends Douner, Ddochi and Heedong to mark the 30th birthday of Dooly, as the cartoon marks an important milestone in the history of Korean animation and pop culture.”


The animation Google Korea mentioned is “Dooly, the Little Dinosaur,” one of the most well-known Korean cartoons and animations, created by cartoon artist and animation director Kim Soo-jung. As soon as it got published in the monthly comics magazine “Bomulseom” (Treasure Island) in April 1983, it gained instant popularity.

A giant glacier from the South Pole starts to melt and flows into the Han River of Seoul. Inside the melted glacier is a little green dinosaur named Dooly. He happens to meet two children, Cheolsu and Yeonghee, and starts to live with them. Dooly always lands Kildong in trouble as Kildong keeps trying to get him out of his house. Dooly even sends Kildong to the Amazon jungle or turns him into a dinosaur with the supernatural powers he received from aliens who kidnapped him. Dooly soon makes more friends who come to live at Kildong’s house.




Dooly begins his journeys with his friends -- an alien kid named Douner, a baby ostrich that escaped from a circus named Ddochy, a dark-skinned aspiring singer and next-door neighbor Michol, and Heedong, a baby nephew of Kildong. Their adventures are beyond time and space. They leave for a journey to find Dooly’s lost mother. They go on a space trip with a special violin. They meet a way-too-old, wrinkly Genie of the Lamp. They even fight mummies inside an Egyptian pyramid and encounter the Angel of Death by being accidentally sucked into the underground world. Characters featured in the story include a baby squid-shaped prince and his servants, and Coke-bottle-shaped aliens, all of which show the characteristics and uniqueness of the creator.

Dooly soon took off, capturing the hearts of readers in all age groups. “Dooly, the Little Dinosaur” was first made into an animation in 1987, putting a lot of children in front of the TV. After this TV debut, more episodes of Dooly were made using more advanced technology and ideas. In 1996, Dooly was adapted into a feature-length film titled "The Little Dino Dooly: The Great Adventure on the Iced Planet." The theater version and its TV animations were exported to Europe, including Germany, and received favorable reviews with double-digit viewers’ ratings, and also went to China and Indonesia. Another Dooly TV series was made in 2009. Dooly and his friends have been turned into character products, musicals, and educational cartoon books that continue to please many children.



Dooly was selected as the favorite Korean animation by Koreans at a survey jointly conducted by 3 Korean animation TV channels this May. Many respondents picked Dooly over some other, more recent Korean animations that have been winning international popularity, such as “Pororo, the Little Penguin” and “Robocar Poli.”

The creator Kim is currently in Canada, preparing ideas for future animation episodes. He hopes to capture the hearts of international audiences “with the most unique, Korean-style content.” Korea.net interviewed Kim via email, who hopes to dub himself “the father of Dooly forever.”

 

Kim Soo-iung smiles with drawings of his Dooly characters. (photo: Son Hong-ju)

- Dooly turned 31 years old this year. He is still loved by a lot of people. Is there any secret behind the lasting popularity?
Well, this is one of the most difficult questions to answer. In my view, this is because of its detailed stories and the variety of its characters. So many episodes even start with a dining table, in particular, which is so common in ordinary families around us. For this reason, I believe, the fans would remember Dooly as a long-lasting source of delight.

- How did you first come up with Dooly? What do you think makes Dooly special compared with other cartoons?
The background behind Dooly’s birth was the oppressed society at that time. In the past, censorship was so strict that artists were not able to describe adults or children as they were. So I thought of animals to replace children characters and came up with some more unique characters, which not many people drew. So I chose a baby dinosaur, which used to live more than 100 million years ago rather than more popular animals like a dog or cat. This is because I knew that less strict censorship would apply if I personify animals as humans rather than directly draw children. But I never expected that my choice of character to avoid strict censorship would bring so many sensational responses. For some people, however, Dooly was regarded as a substandard comic book.

- Is there any reason that you describe Dooly as a little dinosaur who lost his mother?
Dooly is a dinosaur, which used to exist more than 100 million years ago. I faced a lot of limitations when thinking of bringing a dinosaur from the past into a modern world inside the story beyond time and space. In fact, I had to answer many questions to draw a story to bring him to Seoul in 1983. I had to go through so many questions like “How can a glacier from the South Pole come to Seoul?", “How can a baby dinosaur inside the glacier go to Sssangmun-dong?”, “Will Kildong ever accept Dooly into his house?”

- What are the most memorable moments or the most joyful time while you were on working activities?
When Dooly was first published in Bomulseom, a popular monthly comics magazine, it was ranked sixth by defeating works of other popular cartoonists, based on readers’ survey of the postcards. My editor was stunned but I wasn’t, because it ranked top after its third printed edition. Dooly was always listed in the top ranks until its last episodes. I was very happy.

When I had my first autographed event at Kyobo Bookstore, the lines of people who queued up extended to the statue of the Admiral Yi Sun-shin, passing the way of the underground path of the bookshop. The event was initially planned for 1 hour but lasted almost 5 hours, which made my little finger red.

- Either in children's view or adults’ view, your works imply different meanings but are still fun. Who do you think is your target audience? Adults or children?
I hope to make all people, regardless of gender or age, my readers. Because I think all people can enjoy comics joyfully despite their age.

- You created so many works besides Dooly. Who are the other characters you love besides Dooly in your works? What are the other works you wish to turn into animations?
In fact, there are so many characters besides Dooly. I have affections for all of them because I put a lot of effort and went through agonies to create each of them, without considering the possibility of success or failure. All of my works will be fun in their own way if they were into animations. But if I can choose right now, I would choose “Seven Spoons” and “Tong Tong.”

- The Dooly TV series and theater animation won popularity after they were exported to Europe and other countries. What is the reason that makes Dooly win popularity overseas?
I guess people in the East and the West share almost the same emotions when watching animations or reading cartoons. When we cry, they cry. When we smile, they smile, too. This is because we are all human despite some cultural differences.

- There are a few series of Dooly educational comic books that teach history or Chinese characters for children in bookshops. Are there any areas you wish to expand?
Well, it would be good to expand to various areas. But I hope to show more excellent works with advanced details and higher quality.

- How do you get ideas for Dooly and other works?
I make an effort to catch ideas from the stories of all, including myself and my surroundings, and from books and the media. I never carelessly overlook any small thing.

- The Dooly Museum will be built early next year. What do you expect or wish to pursue through the museum?
Dooly’s hometown is Ssangmun-dong. This is a great place to live with nice people who live simply. But the area receives relatively less cultural support than other places. The Dooly Museum will be built in that area. Both the Dobong-gu district office and the Seoul Metropolitan Government have been actively providing support. I hope to make it a cultural place filled with the pride of community residents. I hope to show Dooly from the beginning to today so that people can consider Dooly not just as an imaginary character but also as a character that breathes the same air as we do in the same area. I hope to create a space of hope where people can talk about life, embrace each other, console and be consoled.

- What do cartoon and animation mean to you?
It’s a part of my life, which I cannot live without.

By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
arete@korea.kr

To watch a video clip of "Dooly in a Wondeland" click the link below:
http://youtu.be/MxgJvYxr6J4