''Blinky Bill the Movie'' is a 2015 Australian computer-animated adventure comedy film based on the

Blinky Bill Blinky Bill is an anthropomorphic koala and children's fictional character created by author and illustrator Dorothy Wall. The character of Blinky first appeared in Brooke Nicholls' 1933 book, ''Jacko – the Broadcasting Kookaburra'', which ...

character, an anthropomorphic koala created by Dorothy Wall for a children's book series in 1933. The film was produced by

Flying Bark Productions Flying Bark Productions Pty Ltd is an Australian animation studio. The studio acts as a full-service production facility across feature films, television and a diverse range of digital content. The studio was established by Yoram and Sandra Gr ...

and partly distributed and co produced by

Assemblage Entertainment Assemblage Entertainment is an Indian animation studio based out of Mumbai, founded in December 2013, by industry veteran AK Madhavan (fondly known as Madmax). The studio distributes animation productions of major Hollywood studios and other ind ...

and Telegael (Ireland).

Plot

In the town of Greenpatch, Australia, a courageous young koala named Blinky Bill ( Ryan Kwanten) tells a story about his father, Mr. Bill (

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including three AACTA Awards (including AFI), three Logie Awards, ...

) while embarking on a journey across the wild, and dangerous Australian outback in the hope of finding him. Blinky's dad had created their home of Greenpatch, where every animal could feel safe and live in peace. Blinky has been influenced by the legend of his father, who is on an adventure to the Sea of White Dragons. When Mayor Cranklepot (a goanna) attempts to dominate Greenpatch and become the ruler, Blinky realizes that he must go in search of his father. Throughout his adventure he befriends a girl koala named Nutsy, a lizard named Jacko, and a few other creatures who assist Blinky on his quest. He discovers that being a hero is complicated and requires teamwork.

Voice cast

* Ryan Kwanten as

, a mischievous young

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the w ...

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

as Sir Claude, a

British shorthair The British Shorthair is the pedigreed version of the traditional British domestic cat, with a distinctively stocky body, dense coat, and broad face. The most familiar colour variant is the "British Blue", with a solid grey-blue coat, orange eyes, ...

and the main antagonist *

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

as Beryl and Cheryl, two

emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...

s *

David Wenham David Wenham (born 21 September 1965) is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, Friar Carl in '' Van Helsing'', Dilios in '' 300'' ...

as Jacko, a

frill-necked lizard The frilled lizard (''Chlamydosaurus kingii''), also known as the frill-necked lizard or frilled dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. It is native to northern Australia and southern New Guinea. This species is the only member o ...

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...

as Mrs. Bill, Blinky's mother *

as Mr. Bill, Blinky's father *

Robin McLeavy Robin McLeavy (born 19 June 1981) is an Australian actress. Early life McLeavy is from Sydney, Australia. She graduated from NIDA in 2004. Career McLeavy starred as Lola Stone in the critically acclaimed Australian horror film, '' The Loved ...

as Nutsy, a koala raised in a zoo *

Barry Otto Barry Otto (born 1941) is an Australian actor, primarily of cinema, and an amateur artist. Early life Barry Otto was born in Brisbane in 1941, the son of a butcher. He trained as an artist but switched to acting. Career Otto received an AACTA ...

as Mayor Wilberforce Cranklepot, a tyrannical

goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...

Barry Humphries John Barry Humphries (born 17 February 1934) is an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He is best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. He is also a film pr ...

as Walter, a friendly

wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . All three of the extant species are members of the family Vombatidae. They are ada ...

who is friends with Blinky's dad * Tin Pang as Jorge, a featherless sulphur crested cockatoo * Cameron Ralph as Splodge, a

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

and Robert, a

lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environ ...

* Charlotte Rose Hamlyn as Marcia, a mouse is one of Blinky's friends * Billy Birmingham as Tony and Richard, a pair of

kookaburra Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...

s * Steve Cooper as Hans, a human who lives in the Roadhouse. * Tracy Lenon, Ben Wanders, Elif Acehan, and Gabrielle Joosten as the zookeepers, humans who live at the zoo. * Fin Edquist as Postman

Platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or mono ...

* Stephanie Mountzouris as bilbies * Byron Schepen as

crocodiles Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant memb ...

(uncredited)

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film received generally positive reviews, earning a 73% approval rating, based on reviews from 11 critics. The book ''Historical Dictionary of Australian and New Zealand Cinema'' interpreted the ''Rotten Tomatoes'' audience score of 43%, taking to imply that audiences and fans of the original book and the 1990s/2000s animated series had negative reactions to the film.

Accolades

Television series

The film was followed by a 26-episode TV series, ''

The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill ''The Wild Adventures of Blinky Bill'' is an Australian animated television series based on Dorothy Wall's books about Blinky Bill, and a sequel series to the 2015 film '' Blinky Bill the Movie''. Plot Blinky Bill is back to bring his tradema ...

'' that aired on

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

in 2016.

References

External links

* * * * *
''Blinky Bill: The Movie''
at Screen Australia {{Blinky Bill 2015 3D films 2015 computer-animated films 2015 animated films 2015 films Animated adventure films Animated comedy films Blinky Bill Australian animated feature films Australian buddy films Australian computer-animated films Australian children's animated films Australian children's fantasy films Australian children's adventure films Australian children's comedy films Belgian animated films 2010s Australian animated films 2010s children's adventure films 2010s children's animated films 2010s children's comedy films 2010s children's fantasy films Films directed by Deane Taylor Films produced by Jim Ballantine Films scored by Dale Cornelius Animated films based on children's books Animated films about koalas Animated films based on Australian novels Films shot in Australia Films set in the Outback Films about father–son relationships Screen Australia films StudioCanal films Flying Bark Productions films Assemblage Entertainment 2015 comedy films 2010s English-language films