Dingo ate my baby

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"A dingo ate my baby!" is a cry popularly attributed to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, as part of the 1980 death of Azaria Chamberlain case, at Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. The Chamberlain family had been camping near the rock when their nine-week-old daughter was taken from their tent. Prosecuting authorities rejected her story about a dingo as far-fetched, securing convictions for murder against her, along with her then-husband Michael Chamberlain as an accessory after the fact. After years of challenge in the courts, both parents were absolved of the crime, and a coroner found that Azaria was indeed killed by a dingo. [1]

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The phrase was popularised via the case, but Chamberlain is reported to have either called out to her husband, "the dingo's got my baby," "a dingo took my baby!", [2] "that dog's got my baby!" or "my God, my God, a dingo has got my baby!" [1] In the 1988 film Evil Angels (also known as A Cry in the Dark), Chamberlain, as played by Meryl Streep, exclaims, "The dingo's got my baby!". In the 1991 Seinfeld episode "The Stranded", Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) uses the phrase "the dingo ate your baby" in a scene at a party.

In the 1994 movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert , during a game of charades, a character depicts a famous woman, with a baby, and a canine with Lindy Chamberlain being the answer.

In the 1994 episode of Frasier "Flour Child", when Eddie the dog is attacking a bag of flour, Daphne says in an Australian accent, "That dingo's got your baby."

In the 1995 episode of The Simpsons "Bart vs. Australia", when Bart receives a call from Australia to complain about a prank call, he responds, "Hey, I think I hear a dingo eating your baby!" [3]

In a 1997 episode of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer , the character Oz belonged to a band called Dingoes Ate My Baby. [4]

In the 2006 episode "Mother Tucker" from Family Guy , Stewie Griffin makes a reference to the phrase by stating, "From the station that reaches the beaches, you're listening to Dingo and the Baby".

In the 2008 film Tropic Thunder , "I'm sorry a dingo ate your baby" is a line used by Brandon T. Jackson's character in a mocking way towards Robert Downey Jr's character, an Australian actor who plays an African American and gets offended.

In the 2011 song Lullaby by Tim Minchin, appearing to be sung ironically to a baby that won't go to sleep, a reference is made stating "Now all I have left is to hope that a dingo will sneak in and rip off your fat bitching head". [5]

In season 5, episode 20 of the sitcom Modern Family , Claire spends the majority of the family vacation in Australia working on a big project for her company. When the family chide her for this, she tells them how invested she is in the project, repeatedly saying, 'It's my baby.' Near the end of the episode, whilst trying to complete her presentation, a dingo goes into the tent and steals the laptop. Claire announces to the family, 'A wild dog just stole my laptop!' to which Alex responds, 'That seems like a missed opportunity'.

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Alice Lynne "Lindy" Chamberlain-Creighton is a New Zealand–born Australian woman who was wrongfully convicted in one of Australia's most publicised murder trials. Accused of killing her nine-week-old daughter, Azaria, while camping at Uluru in 1980, she maintained that she saw a dingo leave the tent where Azaria was sleeping. The prosecution case was circumstantial and depended on forensic evidence.

Michael Leigh Chamberlain was a New Zealand-Australian writer, teacher and pastor falsely implicated in the August 1980 death of his missing daughter Azaria, which was later demonstrated to be the result of a dingo attack while the family was camping near Uluru in the Northern Territory, Australia. Chamberlain's then-wife Lindy was falsely convicted of the baby's murder in 1982 and he was convicted of being an accessory after the fact. The findings of a 1987 royal commission ultimately exonerated the couple, but not before they were subjected to sensationalist reporting and intense public scrutiny.

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Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain was a nine-week-old Australian baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of the 17 August 1980 during a family camping trip to Uluru in the Northern Territory. Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. However, Lindy was tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison. Michael was also jailed for some time. Lindy was released only after Azaria's jacket was found near a dingo lair and new inquests were opened. In 2012, 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially supported by a coroner.

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<i>Through My Eyes</i> (miniseries) Australian television crime drama

Through My Eyes is a two-part Australian television crime drama, written by Tony Cavanaugh and Simone North, that is based upon the memoirs of Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, whose nine-week-old baby Azaria was taken by a dingo from her family's tent near Uluru in Australia's remote Northern Territory. Directed by Di Drew, the miniseries broadcast on the Seven Network at 8:30 pm on 23 and 24 October 2004. A broadcast in New Zealand followed in August 2005.

References

  1. 1 2 "Inquest into the death of Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain [2012] NTMC 020" (PDF). Coroners Court of the Northern Territory . Northern Territory Government of Australia. 12 June 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-12. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Using the Chamberlain Case to explore evidence in history" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2011. Retrieved 2014-10-25., National Museum of Australia, p. 7, 2001. Accessed 2014-10-25.
  3. ↑ "The Simpsons - HEY MR PRIME MINISTA!". YouTube .
  4. ↑ Anderson, Joshua (August 13, 2021). "Battle of the Bands! Dingoes Ate My Baby from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'". Film Cred. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ Lullaby by Tim Minchin , retrieved 2024-01-03

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