Dong-Chouel's Chuseok Holiday

Dong-Chouel's Chuseok Holiday is a prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Dong-Chouel The Naughty Brother by Albert Uderzo and Réne Goscinny. It originally aired on CBS on September 13, 1988, and was also nominated for an Emmy.

## Characters

* Dong-Chouel
* Ki-Chouel
* Young-Chouel
* Mrs. Chouel
* Mr. Chouel
* Swoople
* Sid-Jeon
* Lee Choi
* Halmeoni Chouel
* Harabeoji-Chouel
* Lizard
* Kwan-Chouel
* Poor people
* Flippy The Paper Boy
* Hana-Chouel
* Nari-Chouel
* Iseul-Chouel
* Eun-Chouel
* Seok-Chouel
* Harrison
* Two Children
* Myung-hee
* Amhed
* Sae
* Kim-Seo
* Big-Al
* Big-Al's friends
* Rattles (does not speak)
* Drake (does not speak)
* Jimmy's friends (do not speak)
* Mr. Feeble (does not speak)
* Chang-Ho Chouel (mentioned only)
* Queen Elizabeth (mentioned only)

## Plot

Pack your bags, buckle your seatbelts, and get ready for a Dong-Chouel road trip, so the Chouels(with Lee and Swoople) are off to Bukchon Hanok Village to join in the festivities. While Ki and Swoople learn that Bukchon life is a little different than life in Mapo, Lee worries he may be getting in the way at this Chuseok vacation. With the help of Cousin Eun, some horses, and a little bit of music, they all discover what it truly means to be family

## Summary

Two days after Summer ended, the Chouel Family head to the mall, which is already decorated for Chuseok. Dong-Chouel looks for a set of fruit and beef, After going to the mall, Pachelbel's Canon is played in the background on a viollin. Dong-Chouel then sings the first of many of the special's musical numbers, "Perfect Chuseok," in which he lays out his list of the things he wants in the upcoming Chuseok: his pajamas change into dress clothes as well.

1. A large amount of red leaves
2. An amazing dinner
3. A tightrope walking game
4. Everyone will love the presents he gets for them.

However, matters do not always work out quite as Dong-Chouel wanted it to.

Dong-Chouel makes sure he gets some great gifts for his parents

At the mall, Swoople does the Chuseok Jam, which resulted him to get arrested after trespassing, The Chouels take Swoople home

Dong-Chouel packs his suitcase and mentions how much he likes packing, especially since it means that he is going on a trip, in this case to see his cousins in Bukchon. His mom, dad and Ki all want him to put some of their stuff into his suitcase which makes him change his mind about packing.

The next morning, Mr. Chouel gets the car ready. Halmeoni brings self-made sandwiches, to Swoople’s disgust. When Ki learns that his mom will not come with them because their newborn Kwan is sick, Ki. does not want to go either. His mom convinces him to change him mind by telling him that the Bukchon cousins have a hideout in the woods. Lee's mom drops off Lee (with Drake) who is accompanying the Chouels.

Sid is also going, as he tells the Chouel family that he has ride a bike from his house to here,

Ki is shocked to learn that it takes two days to drive to Bukchon. he needs to go to the bathroom. Not much later, Mr. Chouel and Halmeoni reminisce about spending their childhood summers in Bukchon. Then Dong-Chouel has to go to the bathroom. At the rest stop, Lee takes a checkers board out of his bag and forgets to secure it again.

As they drive on, Dong-Chouel is anxious to see his cousin Eun. Ki. wonders why Lee and Sid are coming along since he is not family. This makes Lee angry. Mr. Chouel swerves because a raccoon is crossing the road, and Swoople’s automatic tent falls off the roof. Ki sings the song “I’m Bored”. Harrison follows them by singing "Harrison's Chuseok Boogey"

After driving a ways, When they reach Bukchon, they meet a kangaroo called "Joey", who was adopted by Hana-Chouel during her vacation in Australia, At the house, the grown-ups want to meet baby cousin Laurie. Eun invites the kids to see his pond museum. Ki cannot keep up with the boys. he is introduced to his baby cousin, then his dad takes her to meet Granduncle Jeon, who is going to turn eighty-five the next day. Ki learns that she was named after Jeon’s sister. he and Jeon decide to stick together, since there are no other people in their respective age groups.

Eun shows Dong-Chouel, Sid and Lee how to swing over the pond on a rope. Lee notices that Dong-Chouel and Eun do not find his jokes funny. Eun then shows the boys his museum, which consists of animals he caught in order to study them. Lee dares to hold a snake, but then he freaks out and drops it so that it gets away.

Ki plays **Gaegichagi** against Harabeoji while the boys want to go swimming. Dong-Chouel gives Eun his present, a statue of cousinship, and Lee discovers his swimsuit is missing.

Ki discovers the joys of walking on shoes, but then a lizard climbs on his foot. Mr. Chouel removes it, but accidentally breaks its tail off. Lee sees how the family stands around Ki. and feels sad. He is now wearing a too-big swimsuit and Dong-Chouel and Eun have left for the pond without him.

Samchon follows Lee as he tries to find the way to the pond. When Lee tells him that he feels like he does not belong, since he is not related to the others, eun tells him that he is not related either, but he and the Chouels have become like family.

Lee joins Dong-Chouel and Eun who swing on a rope to jump into the pond. Lee uses too much momentum and hurts his foot.

Dong-Chouel and his dad take Lee to a clinic. He gets a bandage and cannot swim for one whole day. He assures Dong-Chouel that it is okay if Dong-Chouel goes swimming with Eun

Harabeoji and Ki talk about Grandaunt Jeon, who had a similar character to Ki, Harabeoji shows Ki a photograph where Harabeoji and Jeon are holding soda bottles. Ki asks to speak to his mom alone. he wants to go home, because Bukchon is different and he is afraid of the lizard. His mom asks him to be brave

At dinner, Dong-Chouel asks Eun about the book about Joseon Dynasty Myths and Eun says it was cool. Eun apologizes to Lee for not warning him about swinging and Lee apologizes for losing the snake. KI is scared that it might be in the house.

Eun planned to sleep in the farmhouse with Dong-Chouel, Sid and Lee, but Lee cannot manage the ladder with his injured foot. Dong-Chouel and Sid offer to sleep in the house, but Lee tells them to sleep in the farmhouse with Eun.

Swoople gets to share Harabeoji’s old bedroom with Ki who makes him check the room for snakes. He just finds an old bottle.

Dong-Chouel, Sid and Eun lie down in the farmhouse. Sid-Jeon notices that Eun does not know much about Doctor What?. There also bats, which frightens Sid.

Swoople cannot sleep because it is too hot. He goes outside with Ki and they look at the stars. Ki admits that he is homesick and so are Swoople and Lee. They sing a song about home ("I Wish I Was Home") and decide, that the farm has good things too. Then they go to sleep on a floor on the porch.

Sid cannot sleep because of the bats and Jimmy's snoring, so he runs to the house.

Lee wakes up early in the morning and goes into the kitchen where Samchon is baking for Chuseok. (with Swoople taste testing), Ki. is woken by the lizard and runs outside screaming. he finds Sid-Jeon in his mattress and throws him out. Dong-Chouel notices that Eun has not read the book about Myths from the Joseon Dynasty.

After breakfast, Harabeoji gives Ki-Chouel. a lizard catcher made out of a flower pot and a small piece of wood. Samchon takes Lee to see the Hanwoos. Sid comes out and brings Eun his Doctor What? video tapes, but he realizes that Eun does not care for it. Eun admits that he does not watch TV much or read comics. Dong-Chouel reasons that they do not have as much in common as they thought, but they are still cousins.

At the Hanwoo stable, Lee sees a frog that regards the hanwoos as family, like he and the Chouels.

Later that day, more family members arrive. There is another awkward moment, when Dong-Chouel and Eun cannot agree on what sort of Sanjeok to grill first. Ki-Chouel annoys the grown-ups when he tries to catch the lizard. Since no one has time for him, he decides to leave.

Hana-Chouel runs after Ki When Ki complains about no one paying attention to him, Hana tells him that being in a family means that you are an important part even if no one is paying attention. They hear a screech from the Hanwoo stables, and Ki runs to get Samchon.

Not long afterwards, everyone stands around a newborn llama. Samchon tells Ki to name it, and he chooses the name Crinkles.

Later, Dong-Chouel and Sid take Ki to the Chuseok Carnival as the storyteller tells the tale about The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon, The tiger overhears the conversation of a mother with a crying baby, and after hearing consistent crying of the baby despite the mention of tigers coming to get the baby, the tiger misunderstands it as babies not fearing tigers. However, the crying of the baby is stopped by mention of the dried persimmon, which makes the tiger think of the fruit snack as a being scarier than the tiger. In the same house, a cow thief sneaks into the house and rides the tiger. The tiger, thinking the thief was the dried persimmon, runs for its life, and when the thief realizes that he rode a tiger he flees, In which Dong-Chouel and Sid leave Swoople, Harrison and Jimmy in the carnival, in which the three pets wander around the carnival, until they reach a village where it's peaceful, until Big-Al and his gang (dressed as Vikings) invade it and cause a lot of damage, they see two children (likely around Ki-Chouel's age) as they also hide from the vikings, Swoople tells the girl to wait and darts over to the children, avoiding the viking-disguised Big-Al as he goes. He has to convince them to come out, but he’s able to get them safely back to the village. By pretending to be like vikings by screaming, But are caught by Big-Al and his gang

Big-Al tells his gang to save lock Swoople, Harrison, Jimmy and the children.

Locked up with the children, Swoople reflects that Jimmy was right when he said that a his good will can turn into harm. The little girl has a scrape on her knee, and Swoople sighs that he can’t even help without his medical bag, thanks to the raccoon playing with it. Meanwhile, Swoople uses a fishing rod from the prison to Bukchon to get a hair tie to bandage her leg as Harrison sings about The Chouel's ansectors (Our Ancestors from Long Ago).

Meanwhile Ms. Chouel and Kwan are arriving in a taxi. and Ms. Chouel wonders where Swoople is, Sid realizes that Swoople is trapped at Andong's palace

Back at the Dungeon, The frightened girl ask Swoople and Harrison if they’re going to die, but they vow not to let that happen. Jimmy says that the Chouels must be worried, but the boys reveals that they were orphaned two years ago, he promises as he puts his arm around the girl. Swoople tells them not to worry, because Jimmy will save them.

Jimmy refuses to treat Big-Al's friend’s comrade unless the Big-Al promises to let Swoople and the kids go.

Swoople then sees the Dong-Chouel, Joey, Sid and Samchon arriving to rescue them, then Big-Al captures Swoople, Jimmy and the kids again,

Then Swoople communicates Joey with sign language and gives him a wonderful idea to be free, Then they disguise as Don Swoopo and The Green Masked Kangaroo, the two heroes and the children escape the dungeon and are caught by Big-Al and the Gang, but are soon defeated by Dong-Chouel with his karate moves, then Andong returns from London to discover that the Daltons have completely taken over his palace, Soon, he is mourning the destruction of his palace. Big-Al tries to tell him to look on the bright side: the damaged Joseonjips his subjects could rebuild with wood and cardboard. Andong has had enough of he and his gang's antics and gets out the guards, but Big-Al starts crying on his shoe, but ends up being banned from the palace

Later, Samchon wants to sing a song for Theo and asks Dong-Chouel, Sid and Eun to accompany him. The boys protest and realize that they do have this in common. Samchon sings a song to Harabeoji about family (Grateful (Chouel Family Traditions)).

The next day, as the family went home. The Chouels ran into the children and and went to say good-bye to them but they want Swoople and Jimmy to be their parents, but their mother arrive and The kids introduce The Chouels to her. Driving home, they hear the stories on the radio of how villagers were saved at the invasion on Chuseok and Big-Al's banning at the palace, to which he claims nobody knows how it happened.

## Songs

* Perfect Chuseok by Hoyt Curtin
* Chuseok Jam by William Hanna
* I Am Bored by John Debney
* Harrison's Chuseok Boogey by William Hanna and John Debney
* Believe In Your Dreams by Hoyt Curtin
* I Wish I Was Home by John Debney
* Our Ancestors from Long Ago by Sven Libaek
* Grateful (Chouel Family Traditions) by The National Gugak Center

## Broadcast History

### CBS

* September 13, 1988 4:30pm, CBS
* October 21, 1988, 6:58pm, CBS
* November 22, 1988, 6:07pm, CBS
* November 22, 1989, 7:02pm, CBS

### Cartoon Network

* November 2, 1997, 1:00pm
* September 21, 1998, 2:30pm
* February 1, 2000, 4:00pm
* April 29, 2009, 11:00am
* September 15, 2012, 3:00pm
* November 26, 2019, 1:00pm
* November 21, 2020, 12:00pm
* January 1, 2024, 5:00pm

### Boomerang

* April 5, 2002, 1:00pm
* July 22, 2002, 10:00am
* December 2, 2003, 11:00am
* November 13, 2023, 1:30pm

### ABC1

* April 16, 2006, 1:30pm
* December 24, 2010, 7:00pm

### ABC3/ABC Me

* December 25, 2009 3:30pm
* April 7, 2011, 11:35am
* September 13, 2011, 1:00pm
* December 25, 2023, 7:30pm

## Trivia

### Production Notes

* This special began production in December 9, 1987 and ended on June 12, 1988
* According to Tom Ruegger on Blogspot, Eileen O' Meara animated the flashback sequence of Dong-Chouel's ancestors with Andy Knight at Wang, William Hanna and Joe Barbera loved her animation

### General

* This special was aired on Disney Channel in 1990, and on Nickelodeon in 1998
* This the first special to feature Harrison
* Some of the animation of this special were done at Hong Guang Animation Company, Jumbo Pictures and Hanho Heung-Up
* The song "I Wish I Was Home" was kept intact in the Korean dub
* Most of Dong-Chouel's uncles, cousins and aunts would later appear in future episodes
* Joey would later return in Gyeongbokgung Chouels
* This special was repeated on CBS on October 21, 1988 along with the "This Is America, Charlie Brown" episode "The Mayflower Voyagers"
* On 2019, This special was screened at the National Gugak Center
* This special airs on ABC1/ABC TV, ABC2/ABC TV Plus and ABC3/ABC Me during holidays like Easter and Christmas.