The Outback

Watching 'Outback' online, as someone who loves animation and was drawn in by that it had talent like Tim Curry, Alan Cumming and Frank Welker on board (am indifferent to Rob Schneider though), generally found it a watchable but uneven film.

Can definitely see though why there are people who dislike 'Outback'. The Australian accents are distractingly broad and overdone, especially Rob Schneider as Mac the Kangaroo (who he reputedly voices on top of the hero Johnny) and, as much as it pains me to say it, Tim Curry (love him to bits but accents weren't always his forte and this was one of his worst, sounding like he was chewing on very sticky toffee at the time). One has to give credit that there wasn't a mishmash though, which would have been bizarre and confusing, like there was in some animated films personally seen recently (i.e. 2014's 'Ribbit').

Those who want depth in their films will be disappointed here. The only character to get any development is Johnny, and it's actually done well, he is a hero that is a diamond in the rough but has a heart of gold. The others are basically archetypes and one does get the sense that there are too many characters here to make them properly interesting. In particular, there didn't need to be as many villains as there were, the mix of animals was a strange one and it was better off having just Bog and Boris (maybe Blacktooth too but giving him more lines) because they were the only villains that had any degree of intrigue. The script does have humour, pathos and adventure, but could have executed them more frequently and consistently.

Story-wise it's interesting for the concept of having an albino koala, which was a good way of emphasising to younger audiences that different doesn't mean weird, and has a colourful beginning and a tense, exciting climax (without being too scary). It does tread quite familiar ground though and not only feels narratively flimsy and predictable but it also keeps going off on a tangent once the conflict is introduced and gets disjointed and tonally confused. The character designs are a bit stiff and not particularly representative of how technology/CGI has advanced over time and the synchronisation of voices and mouth movements is not always together and can be sloppy.

However, the Australian Outback scenery is beautifully rendered and there are some lovely colours throughout. The music is suitably peppy and accompanies the action very appropriately.

Voice acting is not perfect, particularly in the accent department, but there are standout good performances. Schneider should have been a disaster as Johnny, considering Johnny's personality when reading the synopsis Schneider on paper sounds completely wrong, but he wisely reigns in and is surprisingly likable. Frank Welker proves why he is one of the all-time greats in voice acting and Curry, despite the accent and having little to do, Curry makes the most of the chief henchman Blacktooth. The voice acting honours though go to Alan Cumming, who has a ball as the principal antagonist (actually an effectively sinister if under-developed, his motivation wasn't made clear, one).

'Outback' has enough moments of amusing humour, poignant pathos and some tense but never traumatising peril scenes. It gets off to a colourful start and ends on an exciting note, but the in-between is uneven and at times meandering (if never dull in pacing). Really liked what was done with the protagonist and appreciated the messages and values the film teaches.

All in all, watchable but uneven. 5/10 Bethany Cox

In the outback of Australia, the coward white koala Johnny is bullied by the other animals because of his color. When Johnny meets the Tasmanian devil Hamish and his friend, the mute photographer monkey Higgens, he is invited to join a traveling circus and Johnny leaves the wilderness to be an attraction in the sideshow.

While traveling to Precipice Lake, the wagon car of Johnny, Hamish and Higgens releases from the train and they crash in the desert. They walk together to the new location and stumbles with an oasis with a billabong, and they see a pack of dingoes attacking the animals. Johnny accidentally frightens the wild dogs that return to their boss, the evil crocodile Bog in Precipice Lake and Hamish introduces Johnny bragging that he is hero The Koala Kid. They are welcomed by the locals and Johnny is worshiped by the little Charlotte despite the disbelief of her sister Miranda. But when Charlotte is wrongly kidnapped by the dingoes, Johnny has to prove to himself that he can beat Bog and rescue Charlotte.

"The Outback" is an underrated and funny animation by Kyung Ho Lee with the cute story of a needy white koala that is rejected by the other animals and discovers that he can be brave to defend and save his beloved friends. The voice of Rob Schneider is another attraction in this entertaining adventure. Fortunately I did not care to the ridiculous IMDb User Rating and I saw a good animation. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Outback – Uma Galera Animal" ("Outback – An Animal Gang")

The animation is the only thing decent in this movie! None of the voices even go close to Australian accents. The scenery is inaccurate and the wildlife depicted are a far cry from Australian creatures. The creators of this movie would have done a much better job if they had hired some great'Australian voices like Geoffrey Rush, Hugh Jackman or Nicole Kidman. To hire New Zealand and American actors to depict Aussie accents is an insult to Australia. They should have also visited Australia to get a more accurate view of the scenery in the Outback! Do yourself a favour and watch Crocodile Dundee instead if you want an Aussie fix.

"The Outback" was an enjoyable animated movie, although it just didn't really become all that it could have been. As such, then it was a watchable and enjoyable movie, albeit mediocre in story.

The story in "The Outback" is about an albino koala named Johnny (voiced by Rob Schneider) who wants nothing more than to fit in and be like everybody else. He meets up with the Tasmanian devil Hamish (voiced by Bret McKenzie) and a photographer monkey named Higgins (voiced by Frank Welker). As the carnival they work in has packed up and travel to a new city, the threesome's wagon becomes unhooked and they get left behind. They start off through the Australian outback in order to catch up with the carnival, but get caught up in a conflict between a crocodile and his dingo goons and the residents of a billabong.

Storywise, then "The Outback" was fairly enjoyable. Mind you, it wasn't spectacular or overly inventive. But still, it was a good watch for the entertainment that it was. However, "The Outback" is not one of those animated movies that will have you dazzled and blown away in awe.

The voice acting is adequate, although the dialects were a little bit overdone at times. But they had some nice enough people on the cast list for voicing the various characters. It was especially nice to have Tim Curry voicing a character as well.

"The Outback" is great fun for the children, but as it goes for entertaining adults, then the movie is good enough for a single watching, because it just doesn't offer enough depth or have enough leverage to withstand multiple viewings by adults - for children, it is a whole other matter, as the storyline is fun and the characters are cute.

Yes the accents were a bit over the top, yes some of the places were mispronounced, but my two year old Grand Daughter did not mind she thought it was great, and I thought it was good as well as I had to sit through it to the end, kids don't care about accents or mispronounced places they like the animals and the story and I believe they did a pretty good job to keep my Grand Daughter quiet for an hour or so.

It's not Crocodile Dundee at work here it's children's entertainment and should be viewed for what it is, a very good story and very underrated at that.

I think most Aussies would give it a fair go, my family did and we are Aussies I give it a 7 out 10 as well.