In a wildlife park near Sydney, Australia, park manager Chaz Hunt (Eric Bana) boasts a diverse collection of exotic Australian species with the crown jewel of the collection being Koala Pretty Boy (Tim Minchin) whose popularity spans the world over including a 24 hour camera feed of his enclosure. Chaz routinely showcases more dangerous animals in a live show for the tourists with the animals not happy with being labeled "monsters" by both Chaz and the gawking public. The animals in the show consist of kind hearted blue Inland Taipan snake named Maddie (Isla Fisher), a lovesick purple funnel-web spider named Frank (Guy Pearce), a resourceful if slightly acerbic dark grey Thorny Devil lizard named Zoe (Miranda Tapsell), and orange softspoken finnicky marbled scorpion named Nigel (Angus Imrie) who form something of a surrogate family with saltwater crocodile, Jackie (Jacki Weaver), serving the group as a surrogate mother figure. Following a misunderstanding with Chaz's son Chazzie (Diesel La Torrac), Jackie is taken away from the park leaving the rest of the animals in the dangerous exhibit despondent until Maddie decides the group should go back to the Australian outback from where they were taken and reunite with their families. When Pretty Boy spitefully tries to sabotage the group's escape they knock him unconscious and with him reluctantly in tow set off on a journey across Australia back to the outback with Chaz and Chazzie in pursuit.
Back to the Outback marks the latest animated feature from Netflix's animation unit in conjunction with Akiva Goldsman's Weed Road and Reel FX Animation who were also behind the recently released Rumble. Writer/director Harry Cripps and actor/musician Tim Minchin had been trying to get an Australian themed musical animated film for nearly 10 years with the duo almost bringing to life their previous project, Larrikins, at Dreamworks animation, only for it to be cancelled in 2017 with the assets being recycled as part of the 2018 short film Bibly, and Dreamworks only stating that "it just wasn't working creatively". Cripps and Minchin decided to revisit the concept of a musical animated Australian adventure but shift the focus from "cuddly" creatures to the other end of the spectrum hence the cast being made up of some of Australia's more deadly animals. While it's certainly a bold move focusing on animals who are well known for their deadliness, the movie does a good job of giving the characters endearing personalities and appealing designs that help to make them likable.
The animation for the movie looks absolutely amazing with the characters all being energized and expressive with some really humorous engagements with the characters to endear them to the audience. The main character of Maddie is wonderfully played by Isla Fisher and the design and movement of her character does a good job at making a snake "cute" which is no easy feat. The same can be said for the rest of the cast with Guy Pearce as Frank being particularly funny with how love starved his character is (especially during mating season) and the more cynical Miranda Tapsell as Zoe and the soft spoken Angus Imrie as Nigel all bring their own unique charms to the characters who are also well designed and compliment their personalities. Tim Minchin as having an absolute blast playing Pretty Boy as an arrogant preening diva who looks down on everybody and we can't help but love to see taken down a peg, but Minchin also brings some humanity to the character with his antics masking feelings of loneliness and isolation from his fame. Eric Bana is also having fun as the zookeeper chasing the animals, as he plays the persona with a mixture of Crocodile Dundee and Steve Irwin in an exaggerated take on outsider interpretations of Aussie "bushman" lifestyles that have been ingrained in popular culture, but thanks to Bana's performance and some genuinely funny writing, the character never becomes a caricature and has some legitimately humorous revelations.
The movie is undeniably made from familiar parts with the plot reminiscent of many other animated films of this ilk such as Bolt, The Wild, Secret Life of Pets, or probably the most obvious influence being DreamWorks' Madagascar series. The movie has your typical "road movie" tropes, but they're well done and thanks to the likability of the characters and some really strong craft in the visuals and the musical score (with the Maddie's Lullaby scene in particular being a sight to behold) the movie earns a lot of leeway for its familiarity. Even characters who you think will be stock antagonists really aren't and are given arcs in the movie that pay off in satisfying ways. Sometimes the humor does go a little base with maybe a few too many indulges of seeing Pretty Boy in misery from his "beautiful fur" getting dirty by all manner of substances, but in comparison to other films I've seen do this it never goes THAT far with it, and the humor and heart hit more often than they miss.
Back to the Outback is a solid animated adventure with likable characters, strong animation, and a really good soundtrack. While Cripps and Minchin may not have gotten to make Larrikins, I'm glad they were able to salvage their ideas and bring us a solid Aussie themed adventure. Hopefully we see other collaborations from this creative team down the line.
