Oddball | |
---|---|
Directed by | Stuart McDonald |
Written by | Peter Ivan |
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Damian E. Wyvill |
Edited by |
|
Music by | Cezary Skubiszewski |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Roadshow Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | $7 million [1] |
Box office | $11 million [1] |
Oddball (released as Oddball and the Penguins in some regions) is a 2015 Australian family comedy adventure film directed by Stuart McDonald. It stars Shane Jacobson, Sarah Snook, Alan Tudyk, Coco Jack Gillies, Richard Davies and Deborah Mailman. The film was released in Australia on 17 September 2015 by Roadshow Films, and is based on a true story. [2]
This film's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.(May 2023) |
On Middle Island off the coast of Warrnambool, Australian little penguins have made their home, but foxes have found the island and had reduced the population of penguins. Emily Marsh walks on the island counting the minimal number of penguins left after another attack by foxes, along with her co-workers Zoe, Paul Watt, and her friend Jack Jones. Meanwhile, an eccentric chicken farmer named Swampy Marsh, Emily's estranged father, is seen walking through his barn full of chickens and feeding his dogs, Missy and Oddball.
Elsewhere in the centre of Warrnambool, 9-year-old Olivia Marsh, Emily's daughter, and Swampy's granddaughter packs her lunch and opens a gift from her mother's love interest Bradley Slater, whom she and Swampy disapprove. As she gets driven to school by Swampy, accompanied by the mischievous Oddball, and tries to get out, Oddball jumps out and wreaks havoc all over Warrnambool, eventually destroying a tourism attraction Bradley is attempting to set up. In the courthouse later in the day, Oddball is given one last chance at behaving, or he will get put down if he enters the city again. That night, Swampy finds an injured penguin attacked by a fox on Middle Island and takes it to his house, where a fox attempts to eat it but is scared off by Oddball. Surprised by Oddball's sudden change in his ability to protect other animals, he conceives an idea to save the dwindling penguin colony. Olivia enthusiastically agrees with the concept and names the injured penguin Pocket. They begin training Oddball and convince Emily to go on a holiday to Melbourne with Bradley, where he proposes that they and Olivia move to New York City. While Emily and Bradley are away, Olivia and Swampy sleep on Middle Island for the night to see if Oddball is up to the challenge. They also release the now-healed Pocket back into the wild. Upon seeing that Oddball successfully guards the penguins, Swampy decides to put Oddball on the island alone for a night to see how he copes.
After Oddball successfully fends off a fox and protects Pocket and his significant other, he and Olivia decide that the dog can guard the birds nightly. After the penguin numbers steadily rise, Emily learns of Swampy's plan after Olivia accidentally blurts it out. Emily eventually approves and warns that Oddball could get into trouble if the council finds out. Swampy assumes that Bradley is sabotaging the penguins because Bradley is so eager about a whale-watching idea. The whale-watching station would supplant the penguin sanctuary. That night, after going home from dropping Oddball off on the island, Oddball tries to fend off a decoy fox and gets shot by a tranquilizer gun off-screen by an unknown person. Swampy accuses Emily of running away after she proposes to follow Bradley's plan to move away with him and Olivia, and she says the sanctuary is done. Outraged and offended by her father's comments, Emily says that she put more effort into the penguin sanctuary than he did when her mum died. Swampy later finds Oddball in the back of the animal control van, where he finds a matching wound to a tranquilizer dart. The animal catcher tells Swampy that he cannot save Oddball and drives off after giving him a final moment with the dog. After learning that Pocket and his female friend have laid an egg, he works with Olivia to save Oddball. Emily and Jack go to Jack's house and find some of his tranquilizer guns, fox cages, and tranquilliser darts missing.
After saving Oddball, Swampy and Olivia meet Emily and the slightly drugged Jack (from a dart gun accident) at the beach connecting to Middle Island. Oddball and Olivia sneak to the island and are followed by the worried Emily and Swampy. Oddball finds the person sabotaging the island, releasing a fox. After a brief confrontation, Emily calls out to the person, assuming it is Bradley, to stop, but the person is revealed to be Zoe. She explains that the whale-watching promoter is her boyfriend and wants the whale-watching plan to go through just so she can get out of her job, which she secretly hates. She then grabs Pocket's egg and attempts to destroy it, but Emily and Olivia prevent her. Emily accidentally kicks the egg off the cliff, but it stops before it can reach the sea. Zoe is shot with a tranquilizer dart and arrested by Jack, and Oddball carefully retrieves the egg with guidance from Swampy, Emily, and Olivia. Emily dismisses Bradley's idea to move away and reconciles with Swampy. The sanctuary has been saved, and the Maremma conservation project has been approved.
This is a dramatisation based on true events. The dog used both in the true event and in the dramatized film is a Maremma Sheepdog. The original conservation project in which Maremma sheepdogs were trained to defend the penguins from foxes began in 2006. [3]
Oddball had its North American premiere at the opening weekend of Indianapolis's Heartland Film Festival in October, 2015 and opened the Toronto International Film Festival for Kids in 2016. It was an Official Selection, playing opening weekend at Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Sedona International Film Festival, Sonoma Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital in Washington D.C., Cleveland Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and Traverse City Film Festival, among others. It also received a screening at Utah's Tumbleweeds Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The film was released internationally in Bolivia, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom (Icon Film Distribution). [4]
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and video on demand platforms in Australia on 16 December 2015.
Oddball received positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on reviews from 23 critics, with an average rating of 6.1/10. [5]
Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian wrote, "Some kinks in the writing notwithstanding, Oddball is fun and thoughtfully minded, with a sweet charm that endears from the get-go." [6] Erin Free of FilmInk wrote, "Oddball's brand of fun-with-heart will hopefully click with local kids and their parents too."[ citation needed ] Matt Neal of The Standard gave a positive review, saying, "You'd have to be heartless to hate Oddball." [7]
Jake Wilson of the Sydney Morning Herald gave a negative review, writing "Unfortunately, they appear to have lost sight of the golden rule for family movies of this type, which is to keep the focus squarely on the animals or, failing that, on the kids." [8] Sandra Hall, also of the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote "Jacobson is so intent on its efforts to firm up Swampy's credentials as an impractical but inspired eccentric that he's in danger of turning him into a gormless irritant." [9]
The Australian box office return for Oddball hit A$11,085,092 in 2015 from a production budget of A$7,000,000. On limited release through Village Roadshow (Australia) on 17 September 2015, the film grossed nearly A$1m from 289 theatre screens on its opening weekend, ranking fifth in Australia for all films. It rose to number four the following weekend, taking nearly A$1.8m and expanding to 293 theatres. Peaking on the first weekend in October it was ranked number three and viewing at 297 venues. [10] The film ran exclusively on Village Roadshow for 12 weeks until late November.
The film is ranked on Screen Australia's "Films Most popular in their Own Backyard" as number six and on their "100 Most Popular Australian Films" list as number 26. [11] [10] [1] [12]
Award | Category | Subject | Result |
---|---|---|---|
AACTA Awards (5th) | Best Cinematography | Damian Wyvill | Nominated |
People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film | Stuart McDonald | Nominated | |
AFCA Award | Best Supporting Actress | Sarah Snook | Nominated |
FCCA Awards | Best Children's Film | Sheila Hanahan | Nominated |
Stephen Kearney | Nominated | ||
Richard Keddie | Nominated | ||
Best Performance by a Young Actor | Coco Jack Gillies | Won | |
Mill Valley Film Festival | Audience Award for Best Family Film | Stuart McDonald | Won |
Screen Music Awards | Feature Film Score of the Year | Cezary Skubiszewski | Nominated |
Seattle International Film Festival | Films4Families Youth Jury Award | Stuart McDonald | Nominated |
Traverse City Film Festival | Stuart Hollander Prize for Best Kids Film | Won |
Olivia Hussey is an English-Argentine film, stage, and television actress. Her awards include a Golden Globe Award and a David di Donatello Award. The daughter of Argentine opera singer Andrés Osuna, Hussey was born in Buenos Aires but spent most of her early life in her mother's native England. She aspired to become an actress at a young age and studied drama for five years at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London.
Warrnambool is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Warrnambool had a population of 35,743. Situated on the Princes Highway, Warrnambool (Allansford) marks the western end of the Great Ocean Road and the southern end of the Hopkins Highway.
The Station Agent is a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom McCarthy in his directorial debut. It stars Peter Dinklage as a man who seeks solitude in an abandoned train station in the Newfoundland section of Jefferson Township, New Jersey. It also stars Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Bobby Cannavale and John Slattery. For his writing achievement, McCarthy won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film itself also won the John Cassavetes Award.
Zoë Yadira Saldaña-Perego is an American actress. Known for her work in many franchises, she has starred in four of the highest-grossing films of all time. Films she has appeared in have grossed more than $15 billion worldwide and, as of 2024, she is the highest-grossing film actress. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2023.
The Maremmano-Abruzzese Sheepdog, also known as the Maremmano, Maremma Sheepdog, or Abruzzese Sheepdog, among other names, is an Italian breed of livestock guardian dog. It is indigenous to Central Italy, especially to the Maremma region of Tuscany and Lazio, and to northern areas of Southern Italy, particularly to Abruzzo. It has been used for centuries by Italian shepherds to guard sheep from wolves. The "Maremmano" name derives from that of the Maremma marshlands where, until recently, shepherds, dogs and hundreds of thousands of sheep over-wintered, and where the dogs are still abundant although sheep-farming has decreased substantially. However, the breed is still widely employed in and closely culturally associated with the nearby region of Abruzzo, where sheep herding remains vital to the rural economy and the wolf remains an active and protected predator.
Zoë Isabella Kravitz is an American actress, model and singer. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film No Reservations (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), which earned her nominations for a Teen Choice Award and a Scream Award. She rose to prominence playing Christina in The Divergent Series (2014–2016) and Leta Lestrange in the Fantastic Beasts film series (2016–2018).
Nim's Island is a 2008 adventure film written and directed by Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, and based on the children's story of the same name by Wendy Orr. In the film, a young girl alone on a remote island seeks help from an agoraphobic San Franciscan author. While the author attempts to overcome her agoraphobia to search for her, Nim tries to overcome her fear of losing her father. It stars Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, and Gerard Butler, and was released on 4 April 2008 by 20th Century Fox under the "Fox-Walden" joint-venture. The film received mixed reviews from critics and earned $100.1 million on a $37 million budget.
"The Package" is the tenth television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's sixth season of the serial drama television series Lost and 113th episode overall. The episode was aired on March 30, 2010, on ABC in the United States. The episode was written by producer Paul Zbyszewski and story editor Graham Roland. The episode is centered on Sun-Hwa Kwon and Jin-Soo Kwon.
The Words is a 2012 American mystery romantic drama film, written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal in their directorial debut. It stars Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Jeremy Irons, Ben Barnes, Dennis Quaid, and Nora Arnezeder. Cooper, a childhood friend of Klugman and Sternthal from Philadelphia, was also the executive producer.
Daryl Robert Wein is an American artist, filmmaker, producer and actor.
Middle Island is a small, rocky island lying close to the shore of south-western Victoria, Australia, in Stingray Bay next to the city of Warrnambool. It is a wildlife sanctuary that is home to breeding colonies of Australian little penguins and short-tailed shearwaters. It is closed to general public access because of the low penguin population.
Magic Magic is a 2013 American-Chilean psychological thriller film written and directed by Sebastián Silva and starring Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Michael Cera, and Catalina Sandino Moreno.
Olivia Kate Cooke is an English actress. In television, she has starred as Emma Decody in the thriller Bates Motel (2013–2017), Becky Sharp in the period drama Vanity Fair (2018), Alicent Hightower in the fantasy drama House of the Dragon (2022–present), and Sidonie Baker in the British spy thriller Slow Horses (2022-present).
Palo Alto is a 2013 American drama film written and directed by Gia Coppola, based on James Franco's 2010 short story collection of the same name. The film stars Franco alongside Emma Roberts, Jack Kilmer, Nat Wolff and Zoe Levin.
The Australian little penguin, also called the fairy penguin, little blue penguin, or blue penguin, is a species of penguin from Australia and the Otago region of New Zealand. The species was described as Spheniscusnovaehollandiae in 1826. It was later reclassified as Eudyptulaminornovaehollandiae, a subspecies of the little penguin. After a 2016 study, Eudyptula novaehollandiae was again recognised as a distinct species.
Violet is a 2021 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Justine Bateman in her feature film directorial debut. It stars Olivia Munn, Luke Bracey and Justin Theroux.
Richard Lachlan Keddie is an Australian producer, writer and director. He is best known for his work on biopics of Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke (Hawke) and John Curtin (Curtin), feature films Little Fish, Oddball and Ride Like a Girl, and television miniseries After the Deluge.