Koala Kid

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

Wait for the DVD. This is likely one of those movies you could leave a six year old in front of the TV to enjoy some of the characters and scenery and go and do something else yourself. My just turned teen daughter loves most animated movies. Unfortunately 15 minutes was all that could be tolerated of this one. There are some well known voices behind the characters, unfortunately it's not just voices that are required to develop a decent character. Perhaps the Korean director could make a movie about a part of the world he has actually seen, as The Australian Outback resembles little to what is portrayed in the movie. We were left dis-appointed in what could have been a good movie.

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")

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.

This film is the worst that I've ever seen. The animation is bad, the jokes are so bad it makes you want to bash your head repeatedly on wall and the voice acting doesn't even link up with the animation. With so much talented people behind it, it should have been pretty good, but no instead what we got was a turd on a plate. And may I also bring up the fact that this was released in 2012, the same year some good animated films were made like "Wreak it Ralph", "Brave" and "Paranorman". So to sum it all up, if you find this on DVD, BURN IT and save others from suffering this absolute S*itstorm of a movie.

Thanks for reading and Happy Watching