Dougal (Pollux in the French version) is the main protagonist of The Magic Roundabout franchise. He is a grumpy, yet loyal sugar-loving shaggy haired dog, owned by Florence, a young girl.
Background[]
Concept and creation[]
Dougal, known as Pollux, was created by Serge Danot. In the original French version, Pollux is a British character who speaks somewhat broken French with an outrageous English accent as a result of Ivor Wood's role as the show's co-creator. In the English version, the personality of Dougal was based upon an actor and comedian Tony Hancock, where he shares some similarities as he is generally disparaging. Dougal was never intended to become the main character, but since his debut he became popular when viewers in France ask to see more of him.[1]
Personality[]
Dougal is a cheeky, sarcastic and lively dog who is loyal and he can be often selfish and deceitful which can lead get him into trouble and this would sometimes make him feel guilty for his wrong actions. He is sometimes can be very greedy for sweets or sugar where one of his tactics to swipe some sugar lead to the accidental release of Zeebad. Dougal would be usually grumpy and snappy with anyone where he can be rude to them - an example of this is when he berates Brian for arriving late to his film project that he is making. In the French version of the original series, Dougal, being an English character, would occasionally say certain phrases or words in English in episodes such as "The Marvelous Cake", "Dylan, Sculptor", "Letter to the Queen", and "The Orchestra".
Despite his usual grumpiness, he cares and loves his young owner, Florence more than anything and is never rude to her, like he tends to do with the others. He would do something for Florence to show his appreciation with her care towards him like baking a cake or getting her some flowers. With his relationship with Florence, Dougal would worry about her a lot, especially when she is trapped in the frozen roundabout, and as mentioned by Dougal himself, he would get into bed with her to calm her down and for her protection when thunderstorms keep her awake at night as well as comforting her if she is sometimes feeling depressed. As he deeply loves Florence, Dougal starts to get a heartache when she is unconscious due to the freezing temperature before he manages to revive her. Though he does sometimes displease Florence with his rudeness or make up lies without her finding out, Dougal doesn't like to upset her, even without meaning to. If he did something that made her cross with him, e.g. making a mess in Florence's house while trying to scratch the itch out of his fur that bothers him, he would try to make amends with Florence for which she accepts. His sweet tooth, shown through his fondness for sugar lumps, was based on a French belief that one of the traits of the English is a liking for sweets
He can be jealous of other people at times, such as when Buxton the Blue Cat gets the attention from the inhabitants of the Enchanted Gardens, including Florence, and is doubtful of him where his suspicions about the arrival of the blue cat that may be linked to his investigation of the lights in the abandoned treacle factory were proven correct when Buxton indeed tries to take over the gardens. Although Dougal can be cowardly at times in situations, such as when being faced with the skeleton in the temple, he is exceptionally brave when battling Zeebad or coming directly to Florence's defense if she was in danger. As much as he enjoys life in the Enchanted Gardens, he can be quite lazy where he sometimes slacks out from doing chores or just sit around in the gardens, enjoying his bone. This is also the case when the gang are in the temple and find the second diamond guarded by laser beams, Dougal just sits there on the throne without contributing much in any attempt of getting the diamond with an excuse that he's "too hairy" and chewing on his last gobstopper.
Physical appearance[]
Dougal is a stout dog who is a drop-eared variety of a Skye Terrier with long light brown fur that covers his paws and has a small bushy tail and short bangs. He has a yellowish face with a big brown nose and brown eyes with matching eyebrows. In the episode "Dylan's Wake-Up Call", it is implied that Dougal wears a collar when Florence puts the alarm clock on Dougal to give it to Dylan, but the collar isn't shown due to it being hidden underneath his thick, long fur.
In the original series before his redesign, his eyes and nose were originally black.
Relationships[]
Florence[]
- Main article: Dougal and Florence's relationship
Dougal loves his owner, Florence, very much and they look out and care for each other. He would spend his time with Florence and comforts her whenever she is feeling sad or scared. While a bit overprotective, Dougal immediately comes to Florence's defence if she is endangered.
Zebedee[]
Zebedee is one of Dougal's close friends as he would need him to solve any problem that he is having. However, Zebedee can pull pranks on Dougal to teach him a lesson for his devious antics.
Brian[]
He shares a on-and-off vitriolic relationship with Brian, regardless of Dougal constantly insulting him, but they hang over together often and he was additionally outwitted by Brian on certain occasions. When Dougal thought that Brian was seemingly crushed by the collapsing treacle factory at the end of Dougal and the Blue Cat, he genuinely considers Brian his best friend as he along with everyone else mourn for him, until Brian shows up completely unharmed.
Ermintrude[]
With his relationship with Ermintrude, Dougal is initially frightened of her during their first meetings, and despite making fun of her as well as being rude, Dougal and Ermintrude are still good friends. In Kiss And Make Up, Dougal and Ermintrude's friendship is strained which was all due to a misunderstanding where Dougal believes Ermintrude is shouting and screaming at Mr Rusty and Brian, leading to the two bitter enemies to send insulting messages to and from each sender. After realizing his mistake, Dougal apologizes to Ermintrude, who in turn apologizes to him and they make up.
Dylan[]
Dougal sometimes finds Dylan irritating due to his consistency of drifting off to sleep from time to time. Regardless, he is also good friends with Dylan, given on the rabbit's laidback personality.
Mr Rusty[]
Dougal considers Mr Rusty as a good friend and would come to him for help or advice. Sometimes, Dougal can be dismissive of Mr Rusty where an example of this happens in "Poor Mr Rusty".
Buxton[]
Buxton is one of the characters Dougal doesn't seem to trust. The dog has some suspicions about him where it may lead to the particular event the night before and suspects that he might be up to something. His suspicions about the blue cat are correct after witnessing Buxton becoming king and overhearing his plan to take over the garden. After foiling his plan and seeing Buxton crying in remorse, Dougal rips into him for his evil plan and forgives him - on request of Brian who was thought to be dead after the factory collapse but survived. Despite going on friendly terms with him, Dougal still has some rivalry with Buxton.
Zeebad[]
Zeebad is Dougal's enemy and the person Dougal accidentally released. When abducted and imprisoned by the evil ice wizard, Dougal does become fearful of him, but tries to draw himself to full height until he isn't afraid of Zeebad in the climax and ultimately re-imprisons him.
Soldier Sam[]
When Dougal was captured by Zeebad, Sam was ordered to torture him and was told by the dog to feed him sugar cubes as the way to torture him to get more information. Other than enjoying this, Dougal shows a dislike for Sam, which was due to him working as Zeebad's henchman, and holds a grudge against him when he is lifeless, but is reminded that Sam was a victim of Zeebad's maniacal magic. In the 2007 revival series, their relationship has approved with Sam as one of Dougal's friends. In regards to Sam's no-nonsense and serious personality, Dougal is still loyal to him.
Hobbies and interests[]
- Collecting: Dougal collects many of his bones and keeps them buried in different spots around the garden as well as having his own bone patch next to Florence's garden.
- Fetch: It was shown in Dougal's dream in the middle of the 2005 film that he loves playing fetch with Florence who she throws the tennis ball and Dougal would go after it before bringing it back to her.
Abilities and talents[]
- Construction: Despite being a dog, Dougal is very crafty of building things with all the supplies and materials he needs in episodes like "Dougal Goes To The Moon" and "The Greatest Show On Earth".
- Tracking: Dougal uses his nose very often to sniff the scent of the missing things that are lost and track them down where this was primarily used in "Dogtective" and "Tracker Dougal". Sometimes, the scent would lead Dougal to dig up where the lost things could be and recover them.
- Leadership: Being a self-proclaimed a leader, Dougal is very good of leading his friends to places where in the 2005 film, he finds the frozen village and manages to navigate his way through to the roundabout as he knows the shapes of the buildings very well, despite being frozen solid and hardly baring any familiarity to his friends.
- Speed: Despite being a stout dog, he can run at a fast speed. According to Ermintrude in "Paperchase Mystery", Dougal is much faster than her and he races to catch up with Mr Rusty and Train before they recycle all the papers that has the clues on which are meant to lead Florence and her friends to Basil and Coral to have their picnic.
Trivia[]
- He appears as a still cameo on a cardboard box in the trailer of Action Synthese's cancelled movie Stupid Invaders.
- In his very first appearance "Florence Wins a Surprise", the French version actually has him barking like a real dog, instead of talking (which he can already do from the start of the English version). It is by the next episode, "Dancing Brooms" in which he gains his familiar English persona and voice.
- Due to the dubious nutritional value at the time, Dougal's diet for sugar lumps in the 2007 revival series was removed and instead shows him eating pies and bones.
- In the revival series, it is revealed that Dougal has his grandmother who sent him the family heirloom which is a cuckoo clock.
- In the American dub of the 2005 film, Dougal's personality was changed to him being rather cowardly.
- As Dougal's personality is upgraded in the revival series, his grumpiness and vocal range is very similar to Victor Meldrew from the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave where Graham Ralph said to have used bits of Meldrew's personality to make Dougal's characteristics more interesting.