The Magic Roundabout Wiki
Advertisement

Dylan (Flappy in the French version and the Pinwheel dub) is a laidback, lazy anthropomorphic rabbit who plays the guitar. At the end of every episode of the reboot series, Dylan says, "I wish it was time for bed!" and then falls asleep.

Personality[]

Dylan is a laid-back and a sleepy rabbit who lives in the Enchanted Gardens and would often drift off to sleep from time to time. He doesn't like getting woken up from his sleep or being disturbed from his work - i.e. creating a sculpture of Dougal. Given that Dylan is very laid-back and easy-going, he rarely flips his lid, except on a few occasions when facing Zeebad in the final showdown. Earlier black-and-white episodes show Dylan as a innocent kleptomaniac, including a time where he unintentionally stole some strings holding a tent that Dougal and Brian put up to surprise Florence.

As well as being tired or sleepy, Dylan would be completely active with different basic forms of martial arts that he learned where he takes down the gang of evil skeleton guards without breaking a sweat. Dylan would also feel depressed and devastated at times, such as when he sees the moon slowly disappearing as each night passes or when his sound system and lighting that was going to be used for his big gig ends up wrecked, but his friends, including Florence, are always there to reassure him and restore his spirits.

In the French version of the original series, Dylan (a.k.a. Flappy) is a Mexican character with mañana attitude, and speaks with a Spanish accent. In the colour episodes, he's switched to having more Italian characteristics.

Physical appearance[]

Dylan is a tall light brown rabbit with three patches of white hair, one on top of his head, and two behind his cheeks. He has a white tail, a brown nose, and half-closed brown eyes. He wears a yellow long-sleeved shirt underneath his blue button-less waistcoat and blue jeans.

In the original series prior to the 2005 redesign, the irises in his eyes were originally black and he wore a white cravat along with white gloves.

Hobbies and interests[]

  • Playing a guitar: He usually sits outside his burrow or somewhere in the garden playing good tunes on his guitar.
  • Sleeping: Dylan very usually drifts off to sleep anywhere in the garden from time to time.

Abilities and talents[]

  • Music: He is very good at playing different tunes on his guitar. In the 2005 film, despite being slapped by Ermintrude's tail, he is suddenly shown to be playing a rock tune on his guitar exceptionally well. In Zebedee's orchestra in the original series, Dylan is shown to be playing a violin other than his guitar.
  • Art: He is shown to be making a sculpture of Dougal in Dylan, Sculptor to the fine detail, despite having to make a few adjustments. Also, he is shown to be painting a portrait of Florence with her posing, until Ermintrude accidentally ruins it after charging into it when she mistakes Dylan's art curtain for a bullfighting cloth.
  • Cooking: In the original series, Dylan is shown to have culinary talents where he makes pancakes and spaghetti. He also opened a pizzeria at least twice, and in one episode, recited to Dougal the recipe to making an apricot pie - which Dougal was making for Florence.
  • Martial Arts: When being cornered by the temple skeletons in the 2005 film, Dylan is shown to be a master of different basic martial arts (according to Dylan, he states he knows the basics of kung fu, karate, judo, kendo, taekwondo, "anything-you-can-do" and tai chi) where he uses his self-defence martial art skills to take out all of the skeletons with the help of Ermintrude.

Appearances (original series)[]

Series 1[]

TBA

Series 2[]

Part 1[]

Part 2[]

The * sign donates to having been made after Dougal and the Blue Cat

Series 3[]

  • Dougal Cooks His Specialty
  • Dougal Makes a Film
  • Bicycle Race
  • Supermarket
  • Ermintrude's Birthday
  • Ice Rink - non-speaking appearance (in the English version and the French comic-book adaptation, he has more lines)
  • Pyramid
  • Dodgems
  • Dougal’s Treasure
  • Going to the Moon
  • Fire Service
  • Chasing the Truck
  • Dougal’s Mine is Burgled (doesn't appear in the French comic-book adaptation for "Le Journal de Pollux")
  • Dougal Needs a Nurse
  • Dougal's Super Racing Car
  • Television Show
  • The Aeroplane
  • Dougal's Roundabout - non-speaking appearance (in the French comic-book adaptation, he says one of Brian's lines)
  • La malle magique de Pollux / Les trucs (English version unidentified)
  • Dougal’s Land Yacht (doesn't appear in the French comic-book adaptation for "Le Journal de Pollux")
  • Dougal's Vacuum Cleaner (doesn't appear in the French comic-book adaptation for "Le Journal de Pollux") - silent cameo
  • Backwards
  • Zebedee's Wishing Machine
  • Dougal's Parking Sign
  • Bus and Train
  • Flying Saucers (doesn't appear in the French comic-book adaptation for "Le Journal de Pollux")
  • Sheriff Dougal
  • The Motorway
  • Bathtime - cameo at the end (doesn't appear in the French comic-book adaptation for "Le Journal de Pollux")
  • Boy Scout
  • Noisy Day - cameo at the beginning
  • Sinister Holes - cameo at the end
  • Ice Age
  • Totem Pole
  • Sugar Shortage
  • Parcels - non-speaking appearance; appears mostly as a parcel throughout the episode, seen as his true self at the beginning and end
  • Grape Harvest (for the French version, this is the remake of "Wine Making") - cameo
  • Dougal's Cake
  • Washing Machine - silent cameo

Series 4[]

TBA

Dougal and the Blue Cat[]

In the film, Dylan first appears when Dougal is riding on the train to meet with Zebedee. The rabbit tells him he's watching some mushrooms grow, which makes him drift off to sleep. Later, he's seen arriving with Ermintrude and Brian to meet Buxton for the first time, as they were excited to hear there was a cat in the Garden. Dougal tries to tell them about the strange voices he heard at the factory, but nobody is interested in Dougal's worries. The gang invites Buxton to rest in the dog's bed, much to Dougal's shock. As Ermintrude and Brian make the bed for the cat, Dylan plays a lullaby for him on his guitar (in the English version, he also sings, while in the French version, the song is performed by a chorus). When Buxton is tucked in and falls asleep, Dylan stays behind, presumably to keep watch over the cat, but falls asleep himself. Afterwards, Buxton wakes up and leaves for the factory, but not before (in the English version) evilly telling the rabbit to sleep on.

Except for Dougal, everyone is unaware of Buxton's true evil nature. Back at Dougal's bed, Dylan continues to sleep as Florence and Brian find that Buxton has disappeared. The gang then finds Dougal at the mechanical lift area, with Dylan being the second to arrive (having been irritably awoken by Dougal's shouting in the French version). Dougal tries to warm them about Buxton's evil plots, with Dylan and Brian at first thinking their dog friend might have gone dotty. (In the French version, they're more supportive towards Dougal's speech and praise how well he speaks, with Dylan commenting that he could join the French Academy.) However, to keep everyone from getting suspicious about his plans, Buxton pretends to cry, making them feel sorry for him (and making Dylan and Brian shift their previous thoughts towards Buxton).

At Ermintrude's art exhibition, Dylan and Brian admire the abstract paintings and remark how dramatic Dougal is being. Zebedee then reveals his mustache is missing, and everyone goes to look for it. Dylan rides on Brian's shell, but then they separate, as the rabbit, yet again, falls into one of his siestas. Buxton leaves for the factory. He orders his army to capture everyone and get rid of anything that isn't blue. Dylan ends up being the seventh to be captured by Buxton's army, and is carried off by the soldiers while napping. (In the English version, he tries telling them off, "Peace, man, peace!") Afterwards, he's taken prisoner in the factory's dungeon and chained next to Brian and Mr McHenry on the left. The rabbit tries to ask for some quiet while sleeping (even admitting, in the French version, that he doesn't mind being abducted), but Buxton darkly tells him to make the most of it, and his sleep will end up being eternal. He later cries himself to sleep during Florence's sad song, before Dougal arrives, having come to rescue them, disguised as "Blue Peter". However, before the dog can do so, he and Buxton are sent by Madam Blue to conquer the moon, but there, Dougal's true identity is eventually revealed.

Later, as an enraged Madam Blue strikes a lightning storm in the castle, Dougal goes back to free the others. Dougal bites off part of Brian's chains, but he and Dylan are still chained together. The snail rides off, with Dylan dragging behind, still sleeping, just as a lightning bolt separates their chains, making the rabbit the seventh and last member to be freed. Dylan wakes up and comes to his senses, running to catch up with Brian. At the gate, Dylan and Dougal are the only ones to witness Brian go back into the factory, as the snail realizes they forgotten something. The dog and rabbit run off to catch up with the others as the factory collapses. Back in the garden, Dougal tearfully tells the gang what happened to Brian, and everyone mourns for their friend. Thankfully, the snail, alive and well, returns with Zebedee's mustache, which had been stolen by Buxton. Despite having witnessed Brian go back in the factory, Dylan is asleep during all of this. Mr. McHenry then uses magic to make it snow around the garden, and Dylan wakes up in time to join his friends for a ride on the roundabout.

Trivia[]

  • He is named after singer Bob Dylan.
  • Before his official debut in "Dylan Arrives" on March 8, 1967, Dylan first made his unofficial debut to British television on December 13, 1966, when the French version of the episode "The Crockery Strike" was shown on Late Night Line-Up that evening. "The Crockery Strike" would later be adapted to English on April 8, 1968.
  • Interestingly, Dylan's hippie persona in the English version of the original series, combined with his sleepy behavior, is one of the more obvious examples of the popular fan theory of the characters being on drugs.
    • Interestingly, Eric Thompson himself, thought he went a little bit too far when he had Dylan tell Dougal "We're rethinking the image" in "Perfume", when the dog says that he doesn't bounce around lively like a typical rabbit.
  • Initially in the original series, whenever Dylan slept, he completely covers his eyes with his ears. Halfway into series 2, he gains closed eyelids.
  • In the original series, Dylan was the fourth animal character to debut (the eighth major character overall, after Mr. Rusty, Zebedee, Florence, Dougal, Ermintrude, Brian, and Mr. McHenry, not counting Florence's three friends). However, there has been some incorrect speculation (for example, the 2003 Timeshift documentary, The Magic Roundabout Story) that he and/or Ermintrude first appeared in the colour episodes. (Ironically, Dylan appeared much more than Ermintrude in the black-and-white episodes of series 1.)
  • In the original series, aside from playing the guitar, Dylan is also shown to be capable of playing other instruments. The closest instrument he's played multiple times is the violin (as seen in "Ermintrude's Dance", "Glasses, Part 2" "Starry Night", and "The Orchestra"), being a similar string instrument to the guitar. He's also played the trumpet on a few occasions, and the piano at least once (as seen in "The Moody Concerto").
  • Along with Mr Rusty and Mr McHenry, Dylan has more of a supporting role in series 3, due to the episodes shifting the focus to a core cast of five characters (Dougal, Florence, Zebedee, Ermintrude, and Brian). In certain episodes, this is even limited to non-speaking cameos and background appearances, sometimes even randomly getting caught up in the madness, before returning to his usual routine napping (which he seems to do more of here, compared to the other seasons). Nevertheless, he is still engaged in the plot, whenever necessary.
  • Dylan is also shown to be quite artistic and even has culinary talents, such as making pancakes and spaghetti. He also opened a pizzeria at least twice, and in the French version of "Dougal's Cake", recited to Dougal the apricot cake recipe (which Dougal was making for Florence).
  • Also in the French version of "Dougal's Cake", Dylan is revealed to have two unnamed identical twin brothers, who are all just as sleepy in personality as him. Earlier, Dougal challenged Dylan to a race from his sleeping tree to the station and back, and mistook one of the rabbit's brothers for him when he arrived there. When he gets back to the tree (which Dylan never left), a distressed and worn-out Dougal thinks he lost the race, until Dylan's first brother shows up and lies down to sleep next to his sibling. At the tail end of the episode, the second sleepy brother unexpectedly pops out from a nearby oven, of course having napped in it, and shushes for some quiet.
    • In the CGI episode, "The Carrot Patch Challenge", he's revealed to have a grandfather.
  • In the USA dub of the original series, as made for Nickelodeon's Pinwheel, Dylan is one of the few characters to keep his original French name (Flappy), along with Mr McHenry (Bonhomme Jouvence a.k.a. Mr. Young).
  • Even though the French version of the 2005 film tries to be more "original" compared to the UK English version and other foreign-language dubs, it feels much more like a dub of the UK English version. Because of this, the French version of the 2005 film portrays Dylan in his laid-back hippie personality from the English version, and speaking with a completely different deep baritone voice, very unlike the original French series.
  • Dylan's birthday is the 16th of December, as shown in the original series.
  • Dylan's catchphrase, "I wish it was time for bed!" is in reference to Zebedee's original catchphrase, "Time for bed", which was changed to "It's time to party!" for the 2007 series.
  • It is heavily implied that Dylan is narcoleptic.
Advertisement