Dolly is one of the main two titular protagonists (alongside Dylan Dalmatian) of the animated series 101 Dalmatian Street. She is one of the eldest of Doug and Delilah's puppies. She is very tomboyish and loves to come up with insane ideas. Her adventurous attitude contrasts with the pedantic personality of her stepbrother Dylan. Both she and Dylan look after their younger siblings while their parents are busy at work.
Background[]
Dolly is from Doug's side of the family. She was born as the eldest of a litter of 15 puppies to Doug and an unknown dog. At some point, Doug, who was a single parent at the time, remarried to another dog named Delilah. When Doug and Delilah married, Dolly gained Delilah as a stepmother and her multiple children as stepsiblings, amongst which was Dylan, who was closest to her in age. Over time, she gained 54 more adoptive and half-siblings, adding up to 98 in total (excluding her). She is 12 years old (in dog years).
According to a line from Dolly in “Walkies on the Wild Side,” Dylan and Dolly “aren't actually related,” the only confirmation in the series that they are step-siblings. According to a line from Dolly in “Balancing Act,” he and Dolly had known each other since they were “really little,” implying that Doug and Delilah had met and possibly married prior to the adoption of many of the other puppies.
Dolly and her family did have a human owner before the start of the series; an eccentric artist named Dodie McDot, who left them the house and went to live on an island. He is not mentioned in the show, with characters just saying that the Dalmatians do not have a human. Even so, the family is able to adjust just fine thanks to inventions built by Dawkins.
Being the two eldest of the Dalmatian puppies Dolly and Dylan take care of their younger siblings each day while their parents are off at work. She has an interest in skating, where she commonly exclaims her catchphrase, "Bow-whacka-wow!".
Development[]
In some early concepts for Dolly, she was only going to wear one collar, with a tag, instead of the three she wears in the show. Some of this concept art also shows that her ears and paws were originally going to be black instead of white with spots, and that she would wear a beanie on her head. The pilot for the series also shows she was originally planned to be called "Daisy" before being renamed Dolly. The reason for this name change was that not only did "Daisy Dog" sound too close to "Daisy Duck", but the name "Dolly" was hilariously unfitting for the character and they fell in love with the contrast.
Personality[]
Dolly comes from Doug's side of the family and is a confident and mischievous Dalmatian who enjoys messing about. While she does enjoy teasing Dylan, when times get serious, she will show that she does truly care for her family, such as apologizing in "Boom Night" (which Dylan treats as a big thing for her) as well as showing concern for Mister Fuzzy and comforting an emotional Dylan in "Dog's Best Friend".
Dolly is a rather athletic Dalmatian too, shown to often ride about on a skateboard, as well as a brief scene from the pilot showing her trying to bungee jump from Big Ben.
Dolly never says no to a challenge; she is dedicated to breaking records, winning races and enjoying the applause. Her goals often revolve around doing something bigger, faster or crazier than ever before.
In "Perfect Match", After she was helped her best friend Roxy spent time with Dylan, Dolly quickly felt abandoned once Roxy began spending more time with Dylan than with her. Feeling abandoned then gave way to resentful jealousy, and she ended up attacking them with a spray of water on Dylan for stealing her best friend and Roxy for betraying her by choosing Dylan. She eventually calmed down once she learned that Dylan and Roxy were ultimately not together and that the Rottweiler had wanted to apologize for putting her aside, reestablishing their friendship.
Dolly doesn't like when Delilah says that Dylan is a better child at something than her. It's possible that Delilah expressed her disappointment in Dolly not once, but a few times. Despite this, Dolly truly loves Delilah and regards her as her mother despite their lack of blood connection. Dolly once spent months planning the perfect Mother's Day for Delilah but forgot that she was allergic to orchids, resulting in Delilah being coldly scolded at Dolly for what she thought was a joke without realizing it was Mother's Day. Things got worse once Delilah is once again told that she would like Dolly to be more like Dylan. Dolly was so upset and angry that she furiously revealed the trouble she had taken to please her mother before sarcastically wishing her "Happy Mother's Day" and bitterly leaving. Even after Delilah realized her mistake, Dolly didn't want to talk to her anymore to the point that she didn't want to spend time with her.
She and Delilah "never get to spend time together" according to Doug during one Mother's Day when they were on an adventure that wasn't planned, and come to know and understand each other more ("Girls' Day Out"). Dolly once said that she is very proud of her parents and understands they need to work to help humans.
In "My Fair Dolly", she wanted to prove her point to Clarissa ("Dalmatians can do anything") so badly that she accepted a dare from the dogs she doesn't like, and while doing so, Dolly got carried away, to the point where her brothers and sisters started to worry that she would become like a pet and wouldn't return home. However, despite everything, Dolly didn't forget how much she loves her family and let the puppies give her a "good luck hug". When the puppies started to act like Dolly in her "Camilla" image and offended Dorothy, Dolly quickly threw that image off to return to her family.
Role in the series[]
Although she shares the lead role with Dylan, Dolly has also had several episodes centered around her or duet with her step-brother.
In "Boom Night", within hours of the "Boom Night" event supposed to be the most horrific event of the year (In reality fireworks), Dolly is invited by Fergus to spend his first Boom Night out of the house to stay on the barge with the Canal Crew. Despite Dylan's opposition, Dolly goes there discreetly equipped with an explosion-proof outfit combined with a tennis ball. Once there, Dolly hears a banging noise and hides in a bathtub, believing that the Boom Night is beginning. It was actually Dylan who had followed Dolly in a louder explosion proof outfit. As her half-brother urges her to come home, Dolly learns that Dorothy has also left the house after her. Very worried, the duo rush to the park where Dorothy had chewed sticks earlier in the day. The little Dalmatian turns out to have just climbed on the roof of the house, but when he realizes it, Dylan finds himself stuck in the pile of sticks that must be used to light a fire for the evening. With a fire hydrant, Dolly retrieves Dylan before the flames and hurries home, avoiding being spotted by Doug in the process. Once back, they go up on the roof and Dolly finds herself stuck in the entrance until she says “ball” to attract all the puppies on her. The Dalmatians then witness Boom Night and finally realize that there is nothing horrible about it.
In "Fear Window", stuck in bed with a collar and a bandage on her left paw so as not to scratch herself, Dolly is especially bored after Delilah charges Dylan to watch her. To help her to pass the time, Dylan gives his telescope to Dolly, but she uses it to spy on the neighbors instead of looking at the stars. Quickly, Dolly notices Clarissa's strange behavior combined with Hugo's absence and comes to the insane conclusion that the corgi has murdered her owner. After more spying and insane theory, Dolly sends a reluctant Dylan to Clarissa's house to investigate. She then loses her flashlight as she notices Clarissa almost discovering Dylan before falling from the window. Dragging herself after the fall to Clarissa's house and unaware that Dylan had managed to slip away, Dolly is found by a living Hugo who had just left for a hair transplant. The human is then attacked by Clarissa who believed he was coddling Dolly, allowing the Dalmatian to flee. On returning, Dolly is scolded by Delilah for her recklessness and while learning an important lesson: do not make an active conclusion.
In "Ride Along", impressed by the physical prowess of Police Horse Pearl in saving Dorothy from a collision, Dolly aspires to become a police animal like horse and begs her to teach her the trade. Accepted as a cadet, Dolly spends the day with Pearl and although all starts well at the beginning, Dolly ends up going too far by starting to suspect anyone. During the night, several thefts were committed and this brings Dolly and Pearl to suspect Constantine. Soon after, they find out that the culprit is Chips, a seagull that gobbles up everything it can. Trying to catch the seagull, Constatin's terrace ends up ravaged, to the cat's anger. Dolly then wants to have the bird locked up but Pearl chooses to let him go due to his unintelligent nature before telling Dolly that the job of the police community is not to lock everyone up, which Dolly finds very boring. When Pearl is about to be reprimanded for the damage, Dolly willingly takes the blame to save Pearl's job. When Pearl takes her to jail, Dolly realizes too late that it is not a joke.
In "Yappily Ever After", Dolly can't wait to see the Fletch Ball final on the park's big screen, only for her plans to be in jeopardy after activating a tennis ball machine that injures Hugo. Forced to act as a handyman for Clarissa and her posh friends, Dolly experiences a real nightmare especially with the corgi who does not miss an opportunity to bring her through hell. Once all the humiliating chores are done, Dolly has a chance to go see the finale again, but Clarissa willfully and nastily provokes extra dirt to shatter Dolly's hopes while she goes to the park. Luckily, Dylan replaces his half-sister with help from the Canal Crew so Dolly can go to the park dressed as a Labrador. Arrived at the park, Dolly can finally enjoy the finale until the royal corgi enter the park, drawing the attention of all the dogs. Fearing to be recognized by Clarissa, Dolly hides under a bench and meets a Corgi Prince who has also come to hide there so as not to suffer the usual overwhelming attention. Quickly, the two bond thanks to their common passion for the Flesh Ball. Once the final is over, Dolly is forced to leave after seeing Clarissa returning home. Her skateboard confiscated by Pearl after she is after a stunt on a statue, Dolly rushes to Clarissa's place. Once in the garden, Dolly removes the soot, puts on her maid's outfit and returns in time to the perfectly impeccable house. The prince then arrives, looking for the owner of Dolly's skateboard. The three Burgundian dogs fail miserably to handle the skateboard and Clarissa ends up injuring a barely recovered Hugo, causing her to be arrested by Pearl for "pet cruelty". Her ordeal finally over, Dolly writes her slogan, allowing the prince to recognize her and the two then go skate together.
Trivia[]
- Dolly appeared along with Hansel, Da Vinci, Deepak and the Dimitri Trio on a Pride Month image uploaded by series director Miklos Weigert in 2021, suggesting that Dolly is LGBTQ.[6]
- She knows the "trigger words" of her siblings in order to either mess with her stepbrother Dylan or get out of sticky situations. So far the "trigger words" revealed are: "ball", "group hug", "walkies", "dinner", "breakfast", "sticks", "jump", "park", and "fetch".
- The Indonesian and the Malay dubs and the Vietnamese subtitles for 101 Dalmatian Street imply that Dolly is (if only slightly) younger than Dylan, as Dylan is referred to as "abang" and "anh", both of which translate to "elder brother".
- According to "The Daily Puppy", a newspaper given out to promote "101 Dalmatian Street", Dolly is twelve years old in dog years. If this information is correct, Dolly would only be 10 months old in human years. However, this information can only be in relation to the beginning of the series, taking into account that there is a clear passage of months throughout the 24 episodes of the series, at the end of the season 1 she would already be 1 year old in human years (and 14 years of age in dog years).[7]
- One of the "Dogs vs. Humans" web promotions revealed that Dolly loves to pop bubble wrap.
- The Italian version of the show establishes that Dolly is the mascot of a local soccer team.[8]
- In the "Boom Night Rescue" game, Dolly's special ability is a speed boost, making it easier for her to place ear protectors on the other Dalmatians running about the park.
- In "The Woof Factor", Dolly is seen having an uncontrollable urge to chase a golf cart as it passes the set, resulting in Dylan having to chase after her to snap her out of it. This means Dolly has a prey drive that sometimes instinctively compels her to chase moving vehicles.
- Her design resembles Cadpig from the 1997 series, "due to having the same floppy ears". This is likely coincidental, however, as the show creators have claimed that they deliberately didn't watch any of the franchise's past sequel and spin-off material (including 101 Dalmatians: The Series), only the original novel and first animated film.
- Dolly's rowdy and savage personality is commonly believed to be a reference to the Dalmatian breed, since real-life Dalmatians are known to be very athletic.
Gallery[]
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.jpg "Dolly - 101 Dalmatian Street (1).jpg (171 KB)")
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References[]
- ↑ 101 Dalmatian Street | Meet the Gang! 👋 | Disney Channel UK - "Dolly [...] takes after her dad."
- ↑ Walkies on the Wild Side: Dolly to Fergus Fox about her and Dylan: "We are not actually related."
- ↑ 101DS Pilot: Dolly: "...And, here's my stepbro Dylan, the dorkiest."
- ↑ A Date with Destiny...Dallas and Déjà Vu
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "101DS Series Bible" (April 28, 2024).
- ↑ "Dalmatian Pride" (December 23, 2021).
- ↑ https://www.ajdesigner.com/fl_dog_age/dog_age.php
- ↑ https://www.davidemaggio.it/archives/179711/101-dalmatian-street-su-rai-gulp-arriva-la-serie-disney-con-le-canzoni-di-cristina-davena-e-dei-me-contro-te
