Back to the Outback

 is an American-Australian animated comedy adventure film directed Clare Knight and Harry Cripps. The movie follows a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures that plot an escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they’ll fit in without being judged. This film was released in select theaters for a limited engagement on December 17, 2021 and on Netflix on December 10, 2021 at the end of the year like New Years Eve in the United States. The film was produced by Netflix, Reel Fx Studios and Weed Road Pictures.

Summary
"Tired of being locked in a reptile house where humans gawk at them like they’re monsters, a ragtag group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plot a daring escape from their zoo to the Outback, a place where they’ll fit in without being judged for their scales and fangs. Leading the group is Maddie, a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured Thorny Devil lizard Zoe, a lovelorn hairy spider Frank, and a sensitive scorpion Nigel. But when their nemesis — Tom, a cute but obnoxious koala — unexpectedly joins their escape, Maddie and the gang have no choice but to take him with them. So begins a hair-raising and hilarious road trip across Australia, as they are pursued by a zookeeper Chaz and his adventure-seeking mini-me."

- Official Netflix synopsis

Plot
At the Australian Wildlife Park in Sydney, Zookeeper Chaz Hunt has a show that demonstrates 5 scary animals. Maddie, a venomous inland taipan, appears regularly at the show, but is greatly feared by the public, much to her dismay. She is supported by Jackie, a motherly saltwater crocodile, who tells her, and her three best friends, Frank, a lovelorn funnel-web spider, Zoe, a self-assured thorny devil, & Nigel, a sensitive scorpion, about the Outback where she came from, a place recognizable with three mountains, and where creatures like them belong. One day, after an accident involving Jackie and Chazzie, the zookeeper’s son, Jackie is removed from the zoo. Saddened, Maddie remembers what Jackie told them about the Outback. She and Frank, Zoe, and Nigel, escape the park. During the escape, Pretty Boy, a cute and popular koala, who they're jealous of & find actually mean to them, tries to alert the park's security, but is paralyzed by Nigel. Reluctantly, they decide to take him with them.

While crossing Sydney Harbour, they run into Jacinta, a great white shark with barnacles in her teeth, who is part of the Ugly Secret Society (USS) where animals considered "monsters" help each other upon hearing a password. When they reach Circular Quay, Pretty Boy tries to get the attention of the city for rescue, but finds that the authorities believe he is Rabbies|rabid. As a result, he is feared just as much as Maddie is, so he reluctantly tags along with them in the sewage system. After receiving help from some redback spider|redback spiders in getting around the sewers, Pretty Boy discovers that the world think's he's dead and his popularity has been taken by a Quokka. Chaz and Chazzie find them and attempt to tranquilize them, but they escape via an ice cream truck.

At a school in the outer suburbs, after Maddie frees two lovelorn cane toads, they get a ride on an excursion bus that takes them to the Blue Mountains. Chaz and Chazzie catch up and have the bus pulled over to search the vehicle for the escaped creatures, but a girl gives them an escape, almost relating to them around her classmates. Just after Pretty Boy goes on a tirade about how Maddie and the other "ugly creatures" ruined his life, Chaz ambushes them and almost sedates Maddie, but Pretty Boy, having a slight change of heart, says the USS password, alerting some Tasmanian Devils to their presence. After the animals escape, Chaz reveals to Chazzie that his adventurous and Aussie wildlife expert history was all a lie and he only moved from Florida to Australia after being inspired by television shows featuring Australian zookeepers. He decides to make it up to Chazzie by really going after the animals and bringing them back to the Wildlife Park, though Chazzie is no longer on sure about the mission.

Over the next few days, the animals are helped by many creatures of USS on their way to the Outback, while Pretty Boy bonds more with Maddie and the others. One night, Maddie sings a lullaby that's her only memory of her mother that she sang earlier; she was washed out of the nest as an egg by a flood and was found on the road by Chaz. Pretty Boy reveals that he was also orphaned. The next day, Pretty Boy finds a tree of koalas and leaves the other creatures (without saying goodbye). Eventually, Maddie and the others reach the three mountains, though they receive a light welcome from its inhabitants. Not long after they arrive, Chaz, with the help of some bikers from a pub, round up and capture Frank, Zoe, and Nigel. Chazzie runs into Maddie and is initially scared of her, but warms up to her upon seeing that she is just as scared as he is of her. Chaz captures Maddie as well and places the creatures in boxes in the back of the truck, but Chazzie sets Maddie free without his father looking. Maddie tries to get the animals of the land to help her rescue them, but they initially refuse. However, Pretty Boy, having not found life with the other koalas as great as he thought, returns to join her in a rescue. Using a fire truck, they catch up to the trucks and bikers and break them out. When the chase is taken to the canyon, the animals of the Outback, along with the animals of USS, help with the escape. Eventually, they reach a cliff. When Maddie, Pretty Boy, and the other creatures save Chazzie from falling over the edge from a teetering ladder, Chaz fully sees that these creatures as heroes rather than dangers and decides to let them return to the wild. Not too long after, Maddie molts, with Pretty Boy fully seeing the beauty he had all but ignored previously.

At the three mountains, they reunite with Jackie, who is revealed to have escaped and started USS. The film ends with the characters heading to the Outback, their new home.

Cast and Characters

 * Isla Fisher as Maddie
 * Miranda Tapsell as Zoe
 * Guy Pearce as Frank
 * Angus Imrie as Nigel
 * Tim Minchin as Tom (Pretty Boy)
 * Eric Bana as Chaz
 * Diesel Cash La Torraca as Chazzie Hunt, Chaz's adventure-seeking son.


 * Lachlan Ross Power as Dave, a tough Tasmanian devil.
 * Jacki Weaver as Jackie, a motherly saltwater crocodile.
 * Aislinn Derbez as Legs, a female redback spider.
 * Wayne Knight as Phil, a platypus.
 * Celeste Barber as Skylar, a vapid and shallow koala.
 * Keith Urban as Doug, a cane toad who lives in a school.
 * Rachel House as Jacinta, a friendly great white shark with barnacles in her teeth.

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