Alice e o Canguru

This film was repeatedly shown on british TV early on Saturday mornings, and I NEVER missed it. Boy did I love this film in the 80's whilst growing up. Well now nearly 30 (BOO HOO!!), nostalgia starts kicking in and I started to remember what I loved about the 80's. I remembered this movie and set off using the world wide web to track a copy down. I found help from a most unusual source, the director himself! Yoram Gross helped me obtain, via e-mails from Oz, a DVD copy. HOW COOL! Was I disapointed?

No............

The film looks dated, then so do I. Compared to the excellent CGI these days used for animated giants like Shrek and Toy Story this comes last in the egg and spoon race. But this film oodles charm. The story is very innocent, even compared to Shrek and Toy Story, and children will love it. Now I'm definately not one of those people who bang on about films causing kids to rebel and hurt, maim and kill folks. But if you are this film will only cause your kids to "jump in the pouch of a red kangaroo, hippety hoppety, hippety hop". I had not heard the songs for maybe 20 years yet still knew nearly every word. The way the animation is mixed with real time footage is charming and adds to the film, even if Roger Rabbit did it 100 times better. The animals are truly adorable and you warm to them all, exept the Bunyip which is just frightening enough for the age it's aimed at, still don't wanna meet one at 30 though!!!

So dated, yes. Fun, massively. Heart warming, definately. Memorable.........."Quack, quack, quack, quack, all we wanna do all day is quack.......quack, quack......QUACK!"

I remember seeing this movie as a child on HBO. I keep looking for a copy to rent or buy. It is the delightful story of a young girl(animated) who gets lost in the Australian outback(Live footage).

She is befriended by a group of animals who help her through the outback to find her way back home. Along the way she learns a bit about the history of the outback. Filled with some catchy songs and a great story, this movie rates high among my favorite children's movies. If you and your child get a chance to see this I highly recommend it

Australian cinema was in a vibrant state between the 1970's and the mid 1980's.....We had Mountain Men!, Disappearing Girls!, Apocalyptic Futures! and Crocodile Wrestling! We also had "Dot!"....A fun little tale about a lost girl, A Kangaroo and an Adventure In the Australian bush!...With Animation on a live action background, Which was cutting edge in 1977 and secured the movie as a children's favourite.

However, Looking back on this movie (After recently buying the boxset!), It's painfully obvious as too the age of it, As The Writing, The Animation, Music and Songs don't stand up well now....Though, It's the type of movie, Where it's good natured charm Overcomes it's obvious flaws.

It's certainly worth showing to children..Or adults for that matter?, As it's one of the far too few examples of good Feature length Australian Animation.

I totally agree. It was such a great adventure. Just the amazing idea of going around with different marsupials. I ALSO really got into Australian mammals in a big way as a kid because of this colourful set of films. Used to get up at 6 am to see this on the telly in Winter.

My ambition was to have those adventures, and through Dot anyone could.

That Bunyip, scary creature though!

As in another user comment on this movie, I first saw this on HBO as a kid. The mix of live footage and animation makes the events in the story seem more authentic and believable and also maintains a connection with reality that drives home the ecological message. As a kid, I remember liking the songs, which are still enjoyable, and being fascinated by the aboriginal elements. Upon second viewing recently, I was struck by the environmental and anthropological themes. It is still magical, and the ending remains affecting.