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Greetings again from the darkness. Capturing a kid's attention is difficult enough, but these days, it's a real challenge to hold that attention for 90 minutes. You best offer something extremely entertaining, which is exactly what first time (co-) directors Harry Cripps and Clare Knight have done. Ms. Knight previously worked as the Editor on the MADIGASCAR and KUNG FU PANDA movies, and is married to actor Wayne Knight (Newman from "Seinfeld"). Mr. Cripps previously wrote the screenplay to THE DRY (2020) and here he co-wrote the script with producer Gregory Lessans. Of course making animals the center of a kids' story is nothing new, and neither are the central topics of respect and family, yet this is quite an entertaining way to do so.

While watching the film with a four and five year old, I was able to witness first-hand the reactions and whether or not attention lapsed (theirs, not mine). The film opens at Australian Wildlife Park where Chaz Hunt (voiced by Eric Bana) is a Steve Irwin-type trainer who entertains the crowds and his son Jessie (Diesel La Torraca) with personal adventure stories that may or may not have a sprinkle of truth. But it's the animals who are the main attractions here. The park features the world-famous cutest animal, Pretty Boy (Tim Minchin), a Koala who excels at posing for pictures. In contrast, the "ugly" ones, or the deadliest ones, include Nigel the neurotic scorpion (Angus Imrie), Zoe the wise-cracking thorny devil lizard (Miranda Tapsell), Frank the funnel web spider who breaks out in dance when attraction strikes (Guy Pearce), and the newest addition, Maddie a taipan snake (Isla Fisher). Acting as a mother-figure to these creatures is Jackie the crocodile (Jackie Weaver).

After a dangerous event caused panic and misunderstanding, Jackie is shipped off away from the park. The other "ugly" animals decide to escape and head home (check the title). Pretty Boy accidentally gets caught up in the escape, and he ends up being quite obnoxious - in constant need of catering and compliments. This stands in stark contrast to the other animals who are quite likable and charming. That's the gag here, as well as our lesson in 'beauty is on the inside'. The road trip through the city and into the desert and mountains is quite an adventure and filled with things that don't go quite right for this band of misfits. Along the way, they learn of the U. S. S. - the Ugly Secret Society, which is a rescue operation run by animals for other animals that aren't lovable pets. They even have a funny catchphrase/password! Two of the most fun sequences involve Tasmanian Devils and a couple of toads named Doug and Dorene, who sing "When a Man Loves a Woman".

The film is obviously aimed at kids who are fascinated with animals, and it's charming and funny and entertaining for both kids and adults - exactly what you hope for with animated movies. The morals of the story about not judging a book by its cover, and the importance of family, are always good lessons to reinforce for kids. We should all be this ugly.

Available December 10, 2021 on Netflix.

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.

Flicking through Netflix you might see this movie and dismiss it as a cheap, low effort, low quality kids cartoon, but I would actually recommend giving it a try.

The cast is star studded, the music is brilliant, the animation is stylised but very good.

Well worth the 90minutes.

I find that CG animated films outside of the major studios are normally a "big miss" money grabs catered towards young kids (not requiring good writers and animators). But, this by far is an exception - with great character designs for the creepy creatures and humans, and actually funny, heartwarming dialog for all ages! :-)

Not a big-budget animated masterpiece, but something you can learn from and enjoy. I watched this with 2 kids aged 7 and 9 and they keep talking about it, the facts they learned and what they already knew, how the title says 'back' twice, and how we're all beautiful. They actually laughed out loud, were surprised by some parts, and stuck till the end. To me, this movie was a reminder of Steve Irwin and the glory days of National Geographic. It may not be great for extremely tiny kids, but it's a fun watch for everybody else.