Dot and Keeto

Dot and Keeto is actually an installment of a series started with the movie Dot and the Kangaroo. In that movie, Dot receives the gift of speech w/ animals which is carried through the rest of the movies. In Dot and Keeto, Dot strives to rectify damage done by her brother to an ant nest. She shrinks to the size of the bug and becomes animated. In all of the Dot movies, animation and live action are used in synchronization, since the movies were an attempt to bring more tourism and interest down under. The who meaning behind the series was to show how interesting and diverse Australian wildlife is and to instill a bit of eco-conscious in the children--or adults--watching. Even though the singing, animation, and script should be taken a little tongue in cheek, I remember watching Dot and the Kangaroo, Dot and the Bunny, Dot and the Koala, and Dot and Keeto as a child and enjoyed them immensely. Since then, I have lost my Dot and Keeto copy, but still have the other three and have added Dot and the Whale...Iam 27 and still like watching them, especially Dot and the Bunny, which has the best music and transitions from live action to animation. I highly recommend anyone who finds these little treasures of the eighties to save them for their own kids...and to check the dollar movie bins at wal-mart, where dot and the kangaroo and dot and the whale can now be found on DVD.

All the previous four Dot films are well worth watching, all decent to very good and good representations of Australian animation. Despite actually liking 'Dot and the Koala', respectfully, it is agreed that 'Dot and Keeto' is one of the best of the Dot films.

Sure, the pacing could have been a little bit tighter in places, occasionally it is a little draggy when the film is not so eventful, some of the story is a little on the thin side. Also could have done without the recycling of "In the Kangaroo Pouch", a song that didn't do much for me first time and for me one of the weaker songs of the Dot films, and seemed a bit pointless here.

However, the animation is improving with each instalment so far, with mostly more vibrant colours and smoother character designs. The backgrounds as with the previous two Dot films are meticulously detailed, and like the previous two there is some live action which is done very well and realistically and doesn't jar at all.

Songs are lively and well placed, apart from one, with hummable melodies and lyrics that have both fun and heart. The script, apart from the odd bit of cheesiness here and there, is funny, poignant, remarkably educational and heart-warming, while the characters are engaging.

While the story isn't flawlessly executed, a lot of it does work and is a large part of 'Dot and Keeto's charm when it does. while formulaic it is still executed beautifully and in a way that both children and adults will admire. Parts are fun and uplifting, there are some funny lines and even this 25 year old adult found herself learning a good deal and admired its sincerity and heart-warming emotion.

Voice acting is an improvement over 'Dot and the Koala', where some of the voices didn't fit and like the voice actors tried to do too much. That is not the case with 'Dot and Keeto', actually being suitable and dynamic.

Overall, a very charming watch and one of the better Dot films. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I learned a very valuable lesson today, and that is most movies from our childhood should stay in our childhood, never to be seen or heard from again no matter how strong the temptation may become! I learned this lesson the hard way by sitting down with my best friend and allow her to subject me to the horror that is Dot & Keeto.

This title is actually part of a four movie collection which includes Dot and the Koala, Dot and the Whale, and Dot and the Smugglers. But one is more than enough for my indigestion, as today's feature is just so wretched and stupid that it made me wanna run screaming from my friend's house and into the busy streets.

Dot is an Australian girl whose brother constantly terrorizes the local insect life, including a group of ants. While Dot tries to convince her wicked sibling that hurting bugs is not right, the devious little brat pays her no heed. This opening sequence was shot in live action, by the way, and it's painfully obvious that every line of dialog was dubbed in during post-production.

Then, out of nowhere, Dot starts babbling about how her friend the kangaroo told her about two magical roots. One will make you very small and the other will allow you to talk to the animals. Okay, why would Dot have to eat the root which would let her talk to animals if she heard about the roots from a KANGAROO? Hello?! Anyone? Anyway, she eats the root which makes you small and for some reason becomes a badly animated cartoon version of herself.

The rest of the movie, which drags on forever even at 75 minutes, quite literally has Dot walking around aimlessly while talking to various cartoon bugs and watching live action stock footage of those bugs. I don't think I have to point out that the mix of live action and animation is hardly seamless, when in fact it's atrocious. The worst part, however, is that there's hardly any story here! Dot meets some good bugs, gets kidnapped by ants, sings countless bad songs, then is given the magical root by her kangaroo friend so she can become her normal size again.

I can understand why my friend would have liked this movie as a young kid, since we all had movies we saw repeatedly despite the fact that they were awful, but that doesn't mean I didn't kick and scream through this movie. Avoid it at all costs, which shouldn't be hard seeing as how it's not available anywhere outside of our local video store. 0/4 stars!

After having an environmental message shoved down our throats with the bad pun-laden, unnecessarily violent, anthropomorphic animal fantasy Dot And The Koala (1985) - a movie in which Dot barely appeared in - producer and director Yoram Gross gets back on track with the fifth film in the series, Dot And Keeto.

Dot (played by Ashley Ayre in the live action segments, but possessing Robyn Moore's voice) tries to stop her heretofore unmentioned brother from stomping on ants. She wants to apologize, but she eats a root that causes her to shrink instead of the one that allows her to communicate. A series of events strands her outside among insects both kind and dangerous.

One of the better installments of the series due to decent animation, some welcome humor and a good story. The nature photography is excellent, and it's nice to see how cute Dot is as a live person. It no longer matters what century Dot is living in; she is ageless and timeless.

The opening credits say the praying mantis is named Atlanta, but in the movie he tells Dot that his name is Atlantis Pedantis. Bob Young's jazz theme and other music are reused here.

(For my opinions of the first, third and fourth Dot movies, please go to www.amazon.com and read my review of the DVD titled "The Adventures Of Dot". It's the only review of this DVD to date.)