Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Mark Lewis

Writer:

Mark Lewis (writer)

Release Date:

9 June 1988 (Australia)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

The story of a bizarre biological blunder, warts and all!!

Plot:

A documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.

Plot Keywords:

Toad | Australia | Sugar Cane | Queensland | Animal In Title

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Tip Byrne	...	Himself - Cane farmer from Tully
H.W. Kerr	...	Himself - Director of the Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations, 1933-1943 (as Dr H.W. [Bill] Kerr)
Glen Ingram	...	Himself - Senior Curator Amphibia and Birds, Queensland Museum (as Dr Glen Ingram)
Bill Freeland	...	Himself - Wildlife Research Officer, Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory (as Dr Bill Freeland)
E.S. Edgerton	...	Himself - Former member Cane Pest Board
Pat White	...	Himself - Cane farmer from Gordonvale
John Oakes	...	Himself - Resident of Cairns
Patrick Cook	...	Himself - Social commentator
David Sondergard	...	Himself - Resident of Gordonvale
Rob Floyd	...	Himself - Animal ecologist (as Dr Rob Floyd)
Elvie Grieg	...	Herself - Resident of Redcliffe
Max Ackland	...	Himself - Mulgrave Shire Council (as Councillor Max Ackland)
Brian Hawke	...	Himself - Binding conservator, National Library
Bob Endean	...	Himself - Associate Professor of Zoology, Queensland University (as Dr Bob Endean)
Dr. Michael Archer	...	Himself - Associate Professor of Zoology, University of N.S.W.

Runtime:

USA:47 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Company:

Film Australia

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Psycho (1960)

Soundtrack:

Warts N All

A monument to human folly and eccentricity.

"Cane Toads: An Unnatural History" still ranks as one of the funniest movies I've seen. Don't get me wrong: in Australia's tropical North, cane toads themselves are no laughing matter, especially among despairing conservationists. This short film stands as a memorial to human folly in importing the beast from Hawaii in the first place to deal with a sugarcane beetle which in the event it had zero impact on, preferring to lay waste to the local fauna instead. It is also a monument to human eccentricity - less about the despised, amazingly opportunistic cane toad than the reactions it has inspired among the human populace. I still treasure the memory of the local resident who wanted his town council to erect a memorial to the outstandingly ugly amphibian in the main street - presumably on the grounds that nobody could think of anything else worth memorialising there. (Inexplicably, his visionary proposal received scant support.) Overseas viewers may not appreciate that to other Australians, the movie's eccentric cast of characters came as no great surprise. North Queenslanders actually take some pride in being a little different. I'd like to think that the lesson has been learned, but the news that ravenous 400-lb carp are being released into a Texan lake in order to deal with a water weed infestation gives me no confidence.