Comedy adventure sets out to prove just because something is different, doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful; the all-star cast includes Isla Fisher, Grammy winner Keith Urban, and YouTuber Lachlan Ross Power.
Netflix has announced that the new animated film Back to The Outback will make its global debut in Fall 2021. The comedy adventure marks the directorial debuts of filmmakers Clare Knight and Harry Cripps. Daniela Mazzucato produces, and Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans are executive producing. The animation and imagery are being produced by ReelFX.
Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they’re monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot a daring escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they’ll fit in without being judged for their scales and fangs. Leading the group is Maddie (Isla Fisher), a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured Thorny Devil lizard Zoe (Miranda Tapsell), a lovelorn hairy spider Frank (Guy Pearce), and a sensitive scorpion Nigel (Angus Imrie). But when their nemesis — Pretty Boy (Tim Minchin), a cute but obnoxious koala — unexpectedly joins their escape, Maddie and the gang have no choice but to take him with them. So begins a hair-raising and hilarious road trip across Australia, as they are pursued by a zookeeper Chaz (Eric Bana) and his adventure-seeking mini-me (Diesel Cash La Torraca). Back to The Outback is an animated adventure that proves just because something is different, doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful.
“Growing up in Australia, I spent a lot of time in the Blue Mountains which has many different types of snakes and spiders, and I always preferred them to the cute cuddly animals, so it's such a treat to make a film where the heroes are these poisonous but beautiful little creatures,” explained Cripps. “This film is a love letter to Australia's incredibly diverse and unique wildlife.”
“I have always been touched by stories of hidden beauty,” added Knight. “Maddie is both uniquely beauty and beast, and to get to present that message in comedy is the icing on the cake.”
The cast stars Fisher (Rango) as Maddie the snake; Minchin as Pretty Boy the koala; Eric Bana (Munich) as Chaz the zookeeper; Pearce (Memento) as Frank the spider; Tapsell (Top End Wedding) as Zoe the thorny devil lizard; Angus Imrie (The Kid Who Would Be King) as Nigel the scorpion; Rachel House (Moana) as Jacinta the great white shark; Urban as Doug the cane toad, Celeste Barber (The Letdown) as Skylar the koala, Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park) as Phil the platypus; Aislinn Derbez (La Casa de las Flores) as Legs the redback spider; Diesel Cash La Torraca (Little Monsters) as Chazzie; Ross Power as Tasmanian Dave; and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) as Jackie the crocodile.
Source: Netflix
