Oddball (film)

Oddball
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Stuart McDonald
Produced by	Sheila Hanahan Stephen Kearney Richard Keddie
Written by	Peter Ivan
Starring	Shane Jacobson Coco Jack Gillies Sarah Snook Alan Tudyk
Music by	Cezary Skubiszewski
Cinematography	Damian Wyvill
Edited by	Cindy Clarkson Marcus D'Arcy Max Miller
Production company	The Film Company WTFN Entertainment Screen Australia Film Victoria Kmunications
Distributed by	Roadshow Films
Release date	17 September 2015
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$10.1 million

Oddball (extended to Oddball and the Penguins in some regions) is a 2015 Australian family film directed by Stuart McDonald. It was released in September 2015 and stars Shane Jacobson, Coco Jack Gillies, Sarah Snook and Alan Tudyk. It is based on a true story.^[1]

Plot

This is a dramatazation based on true events.^[2]

On Middle Island off the coast of Warrnambool, Fairy Penguins have made their home, but foxes have found the island and have reduced the population of penguins. An eccentric chicken farmer named Swampy teams up with his granddaughter to train their mischievous dog, Oddball, to protect the penguins from these predators in an attempt to reunite his family and save their seaside town. As the penguin population shrinks, the Island stands to lose its penguin sanctuary status and is set to become a whale watching spot for tourists. However since Oddball starts to protect the penguins, the penguin population starts to stabilize until one day Swampy cannot find Oddball on the Island. He is eventually found by the dog catcher who picked him up on the roadside inside town limits (the town being strictly off limits to Oddball). Swampy in the meantime discovers a tranquilizer dart beside the penguins on the island and comes to realize that not everyone wants to save the penguins. Will Swampy and Oddball be able to protect the penguins or will the Island become a whale watching station?

The dog used both in the true event and in the dramatized film is a Maremma Sheepdog. The original conservation project in which Meremma sheepdogs were trained to defend the penguins from foxes began in 2006. ^[3]

Cast

• Shane Jacobson as Swampy
• Coco Jack Gillies as Olivia
• Sarah Snook as Emily Marsh
• Alan Tudyk as Bradley Slater
• Terry Camilleri as Judge Burns
• Deborah Mailman as Mayor Lake
• Richard Davies as Jack Jones
• Frank Woodley as Dog Catcher
• Tegan Higginbotham as Zoe

Release

The film 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 special screening at Utah's Tumbleweeds Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Reception

Oddball received positive reviews from critics and audiences, earning a 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 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." Erin Free of Filmink wrote "Oddball's brand of fun-with-heart will hopefully click with local kids and their parents too." Matt Neal of "The Standard" gave a positive review, saying "You'd have to be heartless to hate Oddball."

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." 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."

As of 27 October 2015 the film has grossed $10.1 million at the Australian box office.^[4] the Final Australian theatrical box office for Oddball hit $11 million in December 2015 and went on to be the top-grossing Australian Family Film of 2015.

Accolades

Home media

The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and video on demand platforms in Australia on 16 December 2015.

References

External links

• Official website
• Oddball at Internet Movie Database
• Oddball at Rotten Tomatoes