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| Sculptures of the characters featured in cartoonist Kim Soo-jung's 1983 comic "Dooly the Little Dinosaur" are displayed in front of the Dooly Museum. From left are Hee-dong, Michael, Dooly, Ddochi and Douner. / Courtesy of Dooly Museum |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Since cartoonist Kim Soo-jung began publishing his cartoon "Dooly the Little Dinosaur" in the monthly comic magazine "Bomulseom" in its April 1983 edition, Dooly has been one of Korea's most familiar cartoon characters.
The story begins with Dooly, who had been locked inside of a glacier for 100 million years, until a chunk of the iceberg breaks off and carries him to a stream in northeastern Seoul. Thanks to the popularity of the cartoon, Dobong-gu opened a Dooly Museum themed on the popular character in July.
Ever since its opening, the small theme park has emerged as a popular site for district residents and fans both old and new and middle-aged parents who visit there with their children. An official at the museum said an average 500 visitors a day flock to the park to enjoy the witty little dinosaur character. Due to the explosive popularity, the museum had to limit the number of visitors for its first few months.
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| A view of the Dooly Museum in Dobong-gu, Seoul / Courtesy of Dooly Museum |
Theme park combining education and amusement
The first government-led theme park is receiving positive reviews as it satisfies the needs of visitors craving both education and amusement.
Comprised of two buildings — a museum and a children's library — visitors have a chance to venture into the world of Dooly and see episodes of the cartoon work.
On the first floor of the four-story building, visitors are sent on a mission to find Dooly's missing mom, reenacting the 1996 animated film version of Dooly.
On the second floor, visitors can sing along with the popular theme song of the animated TV version of Dooly and glimpse at cartoonist Kim's work room which is entirely made up of Kim's donations. The museum also screens Dooly's animated cartoon works in its basement.
On the roof garden of the museum, there is a maze that children can play in and encounter sculptures of characters from Dooly's fictional world.
The museum official explained the library has already become a hot spot for local residents, as it is equipped with more than 5,000 children's books.
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| Visitors read books at the Dooly Museum's library. / Courtesy of Dooly Museum |
Test bed of government-led theme park
The Dooly Museum is not only dedicated to providing a theme park for its residents and fans of the cartoon, but also takes a role as a test bed for government-led theme park schemes.
"As the first government-led theme park, our biggest goal is to become a more resident-friendly place so that the visitors can use our facilities as much as they want," said Bae Soo-yong, assistant manager at the museum's marketing department.
"Though many say the theme park business is emerging as a blue ocean, there are no proper theme parks in Korea. Strictly speaking, we cannot call Lotte World or Everland theme parks. They are amusement parks as they only have rides and attractions without a certain theme."
Bae said the steps the Dooly Museum has taken would be the best way to expand theme park businesses here.
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| Visitors run and play in the maze in the rooftop garden of the Dooly Museum. / Courtesy of Dooly Museum |
"For the past years, we've heard that world-famous theme parks such as Walt Disney World or Universal Studios would open branches here, but things haven't worked out well so far," Bae said. "Considering the geographical size, making a small theme park like the Dooly Museum would probably be the best way to settle the business down here."
He referred to Pororo Park as an example. "Though it is run by a private company, Pororo Park could also be another Korean model for a theme park."
Based on the popular TV animation series "Pororo the Little Penguin," Iconix, the original creator of "Pororo," has been running a total of eight Pororo Parks in Korea since opening its first branch in Dongtan, Gyeonggi Province, in 2011.
On a small plot measuring an average size of 2,000 square meters, the indoor Pororo Parks garnered some 1.4 million visitors last year. Despite their small venue size, the company has succeeded in increasing the number of visitors thanks to the popularity of the cartoon and its strategy to focus on the need of its main clients, which are children.
Pororo Park also announced its plan to build a mid-sized Pororo Park on Jeju Island, featuring not only the goggled baby penguin Pororo but also other famous Korean animation characters such as "Tayo the Little Bus."
To get to the Dooly Museum, visitors using public transportations are required to take village bus 7 departing from Sssangmun Station, subway line 4, for four stops.
For more information on the museum, visit its official web page at www.doolymuseum.or.kr. Tickets cost 7,000 won for children, 5,000 won for adults. Residents of Dobong District can enter with a discounted price at 6,000 won and 4,000 won. Visitors to the theme park by car are required to make an online reservation for parking as they have limited parking space. The library building is free of charge to enter.
