Back to the Outback

Netflix's newest animated adventure is full of color and action, even if it's a bit of a takeoff on "Madagascar" about zoo animals finding the way back to their wild roots.

I harbored no high hopes for “Back to the Outback,” an Aussie animated adventure from Netflix that at first glance looks like a straight takeoff of “Madagascar,” in which zoo critters break out of their comfortable prison in search of their wild roots, having all sorts of adventures in the process, along with a wee bit of enlightenment.

But the movie, directed by Harry Cripps and Clare Knight from a screenplay by Cripps, is undeniably fun, colorful and full of breakneck action. And the sugary subtext, about not judging others for being non-beautiful or different, slides right down with no bitter aftertaste.

My boys, 8 and 11, thoroughly enjoyed themselves — and I can say Dad did too, and not in just a through-their-eyes sort of way.

Isla Fisher provides the voice of Maddie, a deadly taipan snake who’s only known life in the wildlife show of Chaz (Eric Bana), the zookeeper who sees himself as the inheritor to Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, braving all sorts of dangerous critters for entertainment.

Every day, Chaz brings out Maddie and her other “scary” animals to put on a show for the crowd. They include Frank (Guy Pearce), the only funnel web spider in captivity who longs for a partner for his mating dance; Zoe (Miranda Tapsell), a thorny devil who’s a master escape artist; and Nigel (Angus Imrie), a scorpion whose tastes run to interior decoration.

Their unofficial mother is Jackie (Jacki Weaver), a fearsome crocodile and longtime resident of the zoo who encourages them to not be diminished by the negative attention. But when she’s banished by Chaz for crocodile-like behavior, it opens Maddie’s eyes to the unpleasant nature of their existence, where they’re kept as freaks to scare and be demonized.

So off they go to escape and find their animal families deep in the outback. Tagging along, unwillingly, is Pretty Boy, the impossibly adorbs koala bear voiced by Tim Minchin.

He’s the undisputed star of the zoo, an Instagram icon and pampered deliverer of cuddles. But once they’re on their own, Maddie is dismayed to find out Pretty Boy is an egotistical jerk more concerned with getting his rubdowns, mani-pedis and adoring attention.

Chaz is on the hunt to retrieve them, egged on by his son, Ben (Diesel La Torraca), who believes his father’s hype — even though he’d rather give up and go home. At one point he enlists a motorcycle gang to give chase, leading to a crazy free-for-all through a canyon involving a fire truck and massive boulders slung by dung beetles, so they’re made of… yep, ewwww.

It was an interesting and bold choice to choose “scary” animals instead of the standard lion/hippo/zebra/giraffe gang from “Madagascar,” and indeed that becomes the central theme of “Back to the Outback.” Snakes, scorpions, spiders and lizards may not be as cuddly as koalas, but they’re still thinking, sensitive (anthropormoprhic) individuals who want to be loved and appreciated.

They get help along the way from U.S.S. — pronounced “usssss,” but not too many s’s, mind you — the Uglies Secret Society, a group of similarly reputation-challenged creatures. These include other poisonous spiders, a shark (shades of Bruce from “Finding Nemo”), Tasmanian devils (on a trip visiting the big island), platypuses (pusi?), bushpigs (one voiced by Kylie Minogue) and other Australian animals.

Keith Urban voices and sings as Doug, a slimy cane toad who is trapped in a schoolroom display along with his lady love, who lends a, uh, flipper… along with a whole lot of mucus, much to Pretty Boy’s dismay.

Maddie displays a quiet sort of leadership, not the usual gung-ho stuff but a more passive, inclusive, “leading from behind” type that I found refreshing. Let’s hear it for the introverts!

“Back to the Outback” may not be the most original fare out there, but it seems to acknowledge its liberal borrowing from other animated adventures while displaying enough independence to tack away from the tried-and-true path. We should all be so ambitious.