Little Dot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Little Dot |
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Cover of Little Dot Dotland #46 (Aug. 1970), drawn by Warren Kremer
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Harvey Comics |
| First appearance | Little Max Comics #1 (1949) |
| Created by | Alfred Harvey (writer) Vic Herman (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Dot Polka |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Little Lotta |
| Abilities | Dottiness, Love of Dots |
| Little Dot | |
| Series publication information | |
| Publisher | Harvey Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Humor |
| Publication date | (Little Dot) Sept. 1953 – Apr. 1976 (Little Dot Dotland) July 1962 – Sept. 1973 |
| Number of issues | Little Dot: 164 Little Dot Dotland: 62 |
| Main character(s) | Little Dot, Peter Polka (father), Little Dot's Uncles & Aunts |
Little Dot is a comic book character published by Harvey Comics about a little girl who is obsessed with dots, spots, and round, colorful objects. She was created in 1949 by writer Alfred Harvey and artist Vic Herman.
Character
Little Dot (real name Dorothy Polka) was a "one-note character" with a reliance on formulaic gags and repetitious images (i.e. Dot's dots). Her stories also involved a considerable amount of slapstick humor and domestic comedy. The character's signature theme only became apparent in 1953, after she was redesigned to conform to the company's emerging house style. Consequently, as Dot became a virtual clone of Famous Studios' Little Audrey (which Harvey was licensing at the time), the 'Dotty' aspect was emphasized so that the two characters wouldn't appear too similar.
Dot's obsessive nature presaged the development of Harvey's quirky child-friendly characters, many of which deviated from the Audrey model by incorporating fantasy elements (Hot Stuff, Spooky), or oddball behavior (Little Lotta). On the other hand, generation-based humor always played an important role in Little Dot's storylines. Like her in-house contemporaries, Dot frequently found herself at odds with parents, teachers and other representatives of Bonnie Dell's adult population. Frequent plotlines involved her parents or teachers, who are annoyed with her obsession with dots, trying to trick her into giving up her dot addiction and catching it themselves. Another recurring story source is her numerous aunts and uncles who have myriad eccentricities that Dot has to deal with. In addition, Dot made regular crossovers with Little Lotta from the beginning of the sixties, usually with disastrous consequences (although Dot's fixation and Lotta's insatiable appetite often played only a peripheral role in such pairings). She and Lotta are classmates with Richie Rich.
In other media
- Little Dot is featured in merchandise such as T-shirts and a 2003 maquette statue.
- The character is mentioned in The Simpsons episode "I Am Furious (Yellow)" when Marge suggests that Bart rip-off Little Dot for a cartoon character assignment, thinking no one would remember the once popular character.
- A static image of Little Dot was used in on-air promos for ABC's Dot Comedy.
- Little Dot was mentioned in a promo for ABC's website in the early 2000s.
- Little Dot, or simply "Dot", is one of the three main characters in the Netflix original animated series Harvey Street Kids (renamed Harvey Girls Forever!). In this version, she is portrayed as an African-American and is voiced by actress Kelly McCreary. She doesn't appear to have an obsession with dots (though she does sport dots on many of her outfits and gadgets) and is more of a genius.
