The Critters Are Going 'Back to the Outback'

Tired of being cooped up in their cages, the critters escape an Australian zoo and try to find their way to the outback.

Back To The Outback is a 2021 CGI animated Netflix film that focuses on anthropomorphic animals. Maddie and her friends, which are composed of the critters living at the zoo, are the protagonists who escape their cages and find their way to the Outback, a place where they feel they belong. This movie is told from the eyes of the critters. This movie has received positive reviews from critics and audiences and is considered to be family-friendly.

Viewers can easily see the main setting of the film takes place in Australia, as many of the characters are native animals living in Australia. We also see many of the voice actors in Back To The Outback are of Australian descent. Specifically, the zoo where the critters are held captive is located in Sydney, as shown by its noticeable landmarks such as Sydney Harbor.

From the opening scenes, we see how the critters view the zoo as their prison. Their cages represent their prison cells. Jackie, a crocodile, is a supporting character of the critters who convinces them to escape to the Outback through one of her stories. Sadly, she is taken away from the zoo after Chazzie, the zookeeper’s son, thought she was trying to eat him. Seeing how miserable they are in their cages, Maddie and her friends decide to escape the zoo once and for all.

Chaz the zookeeper is the main antagonist of Back to the Outback. He sees the critters as monsters, which is why the critters are misunderstood by the public. In the epilogue, he learns that the animals are much happier when released into their natural habitat, which is the Outback. Chaz bids the critters a farewell and lets them start their new lives in the wild.

Making their journey to the Outback isn’t as easy as it sounds. Maddie and her friends encounter dangers in the outside world such as humans and cars on the road. Fortunately, they receive help from USS (Ugly Secret Society), a secret group where animals considered “monsters” receive help from each other upon hearing a password. The ending reveals that Jackie the crocodile is the leader of the USS and has been helping the critters escape all this time.

Overall, Back To The Outback is a family-friendly movie that brings native critters to life.