Meet joeys Margot, Emily, Connor and Biscuit, the cuddlesome stars of Kangaroo, the first Australian movie from the studio behind the blockbuster Paddington franchise.
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StudioCanal has given the ACM network, publisher of this masthead, an exclusive first look at images from its upcoming family comedy as it releases a heartwarming new trailer and the film's new poster.
Opening in cinemas on September 18, Kangaroo is loosely based on the life of Chris "Brolga" Barns, founder of the Alice Springs Kangaroo Sanctuary, whose escapades raising orphaned joeys were featured in the 2013 BBC-National Geographic documentary series Kangaroo Dundee.
The film stars Ryan Corr as a TV weather presenter stranded in a tiny Northern Territory town who teams up with a 12-year-old Indigenous girl to rescue an orphan joey.
Newcomer Lily Whiteley, chosen from more than 300 hopefuls, makes her acting debut alongside Corr and co-stars Deborah Mailman, Ernie Dingo and Brooke Satchwell.
Whiteley shares much of her screen time with Margot, Emily, Connor and their on-set stand-in and snugglemate Biscuit - all real orphaned joeys in the care of the Kangaroo Sanctuary who had their own trailer on the set of the movie in Alice Springs, where Barns and his wife Tahnee would give them their bottle every three hours.
By the time movie-goers see them bouncing across cinema screens in September, the cute quartet will be all grown up and already released back into the wild.
Director Kate Woods, of Looking for Alibrandi acclaim, said there was "no CGI or digital trickery with the joeys".
"What you see is exactly how they behave," she said. "I think most of the world associates Australia with kangaroos, but not many films have shown kangaroos in a realistic and natural way, so I hope audiences learn something about the country and see it in a slightly different way."
The Kangaroo Dundee series was seen in more than 90 countries, giving StudioCanal a ready worldwide audience for Kangaroo.
The French screen giant turned quaint British children's book character Paddington Bear into an $800 million box office heavyweight with three hit movies since 2014.
StudioCanal Australia and New Zealand CEO Elizabeth Trotman said the first feature film from the company's Australian production arm, Cultivator Films Australia, was "sure to leave an indelible mark on the cinematic landscape".
Australian film companies Brindle Films and Bunya Productions were key collaborators during filming, lending their experience and expertise in bringing First Nations stories and Red Centre vistas to the screen.
Producer David Jowsey, whose credits for Bunya Productions include Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country and Iven Sen's outback crime thriller Mystery Road, expects Aussie movie-goers to feel proud when they see Kangaroo's depiction of "the deep red beauty of our vast outback".
"Kangaroo embraces the best of Australia, our community, our land, our spirit and our baby roos," he said.
Older generations who grew up with Skippy The Bush Kangaroo would find it fun, "full of heart and belonging, reminding us of a simpler Australia".
