BACK TO THE OUTBACK - ISLA FISHER, TIM MINCHIN and DIRECTORS INTERVIEW

Cute, cuddly and deadly!!! Welcome to the new animated netflix movie, Back to the Outback where’ Australia’s misunderstood animals are featured in a whole new light!

Back to the Outback is a 2021 Australian computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Clare Knight and Harry Cripps, in both their directorial debuts, from a screenplay written by Cripps, and a story by Gregory Lessans and Cripps.

An international co-production between Australia and the United States, the voice cast includes Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Keith Urban, and Jacki Weaver.

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 — Pretty Boy, 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.

Writer and director Harry Cripps had previously created the concept for the cancelled "Larrikins" film with DreamWorks Animation, which was also supposed to feature a score and music by Tim Minchin[4]; the project was revived as a short film titled Bilby in 2018.[5] In an interview with TheWrap, Cripps said that Larrikins had "focused on the cute animals, and so I didn’t want to go back down that same road, I went to the dark side.”[6] Clare Knight said "A lot of executives would say to us, ‘A snake? Snakes aren’t huggable. Does your lead have to be a snake?’ And it was a challenge for us that we really wanted to make these animals appealing."

Initially, while Netflix was concerned about the "huggability of the animal cast", both Knight and Cripps said that working for the streaming giant’s animation unit was positively heavenly. “It’s been great. Again, we’re first-time directors, so Netflix is willing to give us a shot and give us a voice, so we really feel great. We would’ve felt if this was DreamWorks, we possibly would’ve been pigeonholed as writer and editor and not necessarily been given this chance. And the fact that we reached such a big, global audience with this great depiction of Australia I think, is a wonderful thing for us.

The film's score was composed by Rupert Gregson-Williams. Executive producer Akiva Goldsman, as director, had previously worked with Rupert on Winter's Tale. The soundtrack features four original songs, including "Hello World" by Evie Irie and "Beautifully Ugly" by Tim Minchin and Irie. 

I spoke with voice talent Isla Fisher & Tim Minchin and directors Clare Knight and Harry Cripps about working on this adorable project.

All interviews can be watched in the playlist below.