''Barnaby and Me'' is a 1978 Australian

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

film. It features a girl and her talking koala, Barnaby, who are pursued by criminals.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p11 The film was one of six TV movies made in Australia by Transatlantic Enterprises along with the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. ''Barnaby and Me'' was made in association with

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It was formed on July 2, 2024, following a merger between longtime rivals Cedar Fair and the former Six Flags ...

, presented as the theme park company's first foray into the movie business. It was the final film directed by

Norman Panama Norman Kaye Panama (April 21, 1914 – January 13, 2003) was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He is known for his partnership with Melvin Frank and their work on films such as ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House' ...

Cast

Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) ...

as Leo Fisk *

Juliet Mills Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is a British-American actress. Mills began her career as a child actress and was nominated at age 18 for a Tony Award for her stage performance in ''Five Finger Exercise'' in 1960. She progressed to ...

as Jennifer, young widow * Sally Boyden as Linda *

Hugh Keays-Byrne Hugh Keays-Byrne (18 May 1947 – 2 December 2020) was a British-Australian actor. He began his career on stage in his native England, where he was member of the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1968 and 1972. After emigrating to Australia in 1 ...

as Huggins * Rangi Nicols as Ko *

John Newcombe John David Newcombe AO OBE (born 23 May 1944) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in both men's singles and men's doubles. Newcombe won a combined 26 major titles: seven in singles, a former ...

as himself * Michael Beecher as French Reporter *

Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...

as Tall Baddie *

Ivar Kants Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949), commonly credited as Ivor Kants or Ivar Kanz, is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in film, television and theatre. Early life Ivar Kants was born on July 19, 1949, in Adela ...

as Boris *

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

as Barnaby

Production

It was the second film from Transatlantic Enterprises, following '' No Room to Run''. The film was announced in November 1976 as ''Billy''. Another working title was ''Fuzzy''. Australian singer Sally Boyden turned down the chance to tour with

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. He was born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish Americans, Polish origin and enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, ...

to make the movie.

has a cameo where he plays a game of tennis against Caesar. Filming took place from mid November 1976 to mid January 1977. Caesar was addicted to alcohol and pills and the time and later wrote in his memoirs that on the flight out "I took my usual ration of booze and pills and passed out completely. When the plane landed in New Zealand Caesar could not be woken up so they took him to hospital.Caesar p 6 His wife Florence was flown to Auckland but by the time she arrived Caesar had gone to Sydney. Norman Panama requested Florence stay on the set to ensure Caesar completed the film. Caesar wrote "she did and she got me to work every day, in reasonably usable condition."Caesar p 188 However Caesar said he could not remember anything about making the movie or any of the time he spent in Australia.

References

Notes

External links

*
Barnaby and Me
at Letterbox DVD
''Barnaby and Me''
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature) is a national bio-bibliographical database of Australian literature. It is an internet-based, ...

{{Six Flags Australian television films Australian crime comedy films 1978 television films 1978 films 1978 crime films Australian adventure films 1970s adventure films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Norman Panama 1970s Australian films English-language crime films English-language adventure films