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McDull
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
McDull (Traditional Chinese: 麥兜) is a cartoon pig character that was created in Hong Kong by Alice Mak and Brian Tse (who also created another cartoon pig called McMug). Although McDull made his first appearances as a supporting character in the McMug comics, McDull has since become a central character in his own right, attracting a huge following in Hong Kong.
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McDull is a male pig who can be distinguished by a birthmark on his right eye. He has a heart of gold, but his brain is not very good. Ordinary in every aspect, he has lots of dreams. However, every time he tries, he fails; he is disappointed, but tries again, exploring other dreams. By this, he creates his own colourful world. He lives his life simply and naturally. He is not perfect, but his attitude towards life, namely of never giving up, makes him a popular character.
The name McDull actually has a story itself. When Mrs Mak was going to give birth to McDull, she saw a plastic basin, which is pronounced as "dull" in Cantonese, flying over her head. Therefore, she thought she should name her son as "Dull".
His mother's name is Mrs. Mak Tam Yuk Lin and his father's is Mak Bing. After the birth of McDull, his father disappeared and therefore Mrs. Mak had to raise McDull as a single mother. Despite their mutual love, mother and son had many conflicts. Mrs. Mak is a typical Hong Kong mother, expecting her son to get good grades, to enter the University of Hong Kong, and to become a respected professional. McDull tries very hard to fulfill his mother's wishes, but always fails.
Earlier stories suggested that McMug is a distant (probably paternal) cousin of McDull.
One Christmas day, McDull produced a load of human-shaped dung called Excreman. After giving Excreman a scarf (made out of toilet paper) and a hat (actually a spittoon), he was brought by Excreman to dung-world. There, Excreman shares his wish with him: to become fertilizer for flowers.
When the next morning came, Excreman brought McDull back to his room and went to fulfill his goal. Before leaving, Excreman left a message to McDull: Remember us whenever you see the humblest, the deserted and the despised.
(This story was very loosely based on The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs. Note the similarity of Excreman with South Park's Mr. Hankey, another dung-shaped cartoon character associated with Christmas.)
McDull first appeared as a comic book character. Most of the books mainly depicted his daily life:
- Yellow Bus Magazine
- McDull's Touching Short Stories (麥兜感人至深小故事)
- McDull - From Honey to BBQ Pork (麥兜從蜜汁到叉燒)
- McDull's Stories (麥兜故事)
- McDull's 'Tiny' Novels (麥兜 . 微小小說)
- McDull's Hundred Thousands Questions Collection (麥兜十萬個為什麼)
- McDull's 'Dam' 'Dam' Noodles (麥兜的擔擔麵)
- McDull's Fishball (麥兜的魚蛋)
- MuDull's Stitching - A Day of McDull (麥嘜縫縫縫——麥兜的一天)
- Dear McDull (麥肉兜兜)
- Mrs. Mac's Stories (麥太兜兜)
- Unplugged Version of Young McDull's Troubles (少年麥兜的煩惱Unplugged版(非賣品))
The first McDull movie was titled My Life as McDull. The movie documented his life and the relationship between him and his mother.
As in the comics, McDull is a piglet who lives with his mother, Mrs. Mak, in Hong Kong. He is a kindergarten student. He has a happy school life with his classmates including geese, tortoises and other pigs. McDull and his mum love each other very much. McDull tries his best to make his mother proud of him and his mother tries hard to give McDull a happy childhood.
In the movie, McDull wanted to go to the Maldives. His mother could not afford a trip there but she tricks him by taking him to The Peak by tram. The tram has a sign "Go to the Maldives". It made McDull very happy as he thought that he was really going to the Maldives.
After realizing his dream, McDull set himself another target: to become an Olympic champion just like female windsurfer Lee Lai Shan.
The McMug Story My Life as McDull is also being translated into French and shown in France.
(In the French version, Mak Bing is the mother of McDull, not his father.)
In 2004, the sequel of McDull, McDull, Prince de la Bun (Chinese:麥兜菠蘿油王子 lit. McDull, the prince of the pineapple bun with butter) was shown in cinemas in Hong Kong. There was again significant wordplay in this movie. Some of it is based on the "pineapple bun". For example, in slang Cantonese, a "bor lo goi" ("pineapple cap") is a colloquialism for kneecap. The Pancakes, who composed the movie's theme song, was awarded the Best Original Film Song in the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 2002, the soundtrack of My Life as McDull was released. It was produced by Steven Ho, a Hong Kong musician who won the Best Original Film Score in the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards. His blend of classical music and "modern" themes in this soundtrack led to a surge of interest in classical music amongst Hong Kong moviegoers.
Notably, McDull's theme song is Turkish March by Mozart set to Cantonese lyrics.
The songs in the movie are also available in a karaoke DVD format.
- McDull, The Alumni (2006)
