'Back to the Outback' Review
PG: Rude/suggestive material and action
Runtime: 1 Hr and 35 Minutes
Production Companies: Netflix Animation, Reel FX Creative Studios, Weed Road Pictures
Distributor: Netflix
Directors: Harry Cripps, Clare Knight
Writer: Harry Cripps
Cast: Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Keith Urban, Aislinn Derbez
Release Date: December 10, 2021
In Theaters and Netflix
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 plots 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 La Torraca).
There aren’t many animated movies outside of The Rescuers Down Under and Finding Nemo that explore the continent of Australia. There was gonna be one from Dreamworks called Larrikins that screenwriter Harry Cripps and musician/voice actor Tim Minchin were working on, but we don’t talk about that. Back to the Outback takes a familiar concept and utilizes it as a vast and beautiful love letter to Australia and the creatures who inhabit it.
Outback bears the central theme of not judging a book by its cover, even though a ton of viewers might be quick to do so. The premise might be very reminiscent of movies like Madagascar and The Wild where domesticated zoo animals liberate themselves, but Outback has an unexpectedly resonant setup that sets it apart from the aforementioned movies. Here you have a bunch of small and endearing reptilians who are deemed ugly by everyone who comes to see them, especially poisonous snake Maddie. Part of their daily show involves her being shown off, being perceived as dangerous and ugly despite her warm heart, and being thrown into a box by her zookeeper. Once it delves into the emotional abuse Maddie and her buddies get daily, you wholeheartedly root for them to escape. As the animal fugitives liberate themselves and inadvertently take a self-obsessed Koala named Pretty Boy with them, the film becomes a beautiful celebration of Australia.
The animation services provided by Reel FX Creative Studios are far from the best in their roster, mostly due to how fast-tracked this movie was. What it lacks in animation quality, it makes up for in every other aspect, ranging from production to character design. The movie guides you through landmark cities like Sydney and Melbourne via the animals’ perspectives and the filmmakers get to play with scale in those scenes. The production designers poured their hearts into translating these real locations to a cartoony landscape.
The film features animals that originated from the region and instead of going for a realistic look, the character designers make them look both colorful and distinct. Whereas the failed Larrikins project tried to give cute animals some ugliness, Outback makes objectively ugly animals look cute. While it might make the setup a bit hypocritical for the animals to be called “ugly” while looking so golly gee cute, the designs of the animals are so eye-popping in style and shape. If that’s not enough, Outback took big swings that caught me completely off guard in poignant scenes where Maddie has a heart-to-heart moment with a young Aboriginal Australian girl. Yeah, they put Black Australian representation in this and it even ends with land acknowledgment.
When the story is not bridging representation of all kinds, it homages some of the most prolific movies to come from Australia. There is a major Mad Max-like action sequence and while it’s far from subtle, it still wears its heart on its sleeve. On paper, it might sound as if everything is blatant pandering, but there are hardly any other Australian animated movies that celebrate it. Writer Harry Cripps took a very familiar blueprint and used it as a means to pay tribute to his home in a manner that’s more effective than Best Picture contenders like Belfast. The voice cast is jam-packed with Aussie talent, which elevates the authenticity of this family adventure. The central voice cast is of Australian descent much like their characters, and they all bring fun performances.
Back to the Outback bears your typical “point A to point B” journey but the script lacks enough oomph in personality to make all the characters and humor feel fleshed out. The story is bolstered by the gentle, sweet-natured snake Maddie and the egotistical Pretty Boy, whose personalities often clash throughout their trek. There is proper development with their relationship but the supporting cast hardly gets to make much of an impression. The only comedic relief that managed to get a few chuckles out of me was Frank the spider voiced by Guy Pearce, for his entire ordeal is being hormonal due to mating season. It cracked me up hearing Pearce as this horny character and some of his jokes caught me off guard. Apart from him, the humor aims for the constant gross-out gags that might fly for kids, but parents will be rolling their eyes.
The animals, unfortunately, get overshadowed by the engaging subplot of their zookeeper and his son who idolizes him. Their dynamic is downright hysterical at times and features a surprisingly great arc with a plot twist that had me rolling on the floor. While even the unexpected twist started as a joke, I admire how Cripps managed to further it for emotional resonance. It’s just weird how, in a movie about animals, the main standouts were the humans.
Though it might feel overly familiar, Back to the Outback is an endearing and charming animated feature that pays tribute to the continent it’s set in while providing an enriching tale of not judging a book by its cover.
