Keith Urban voicing Netflix animated comedy

Back To The Outback debuts in 2021

Keith Urban is making his voice acting debut in the upcoming Netflix animated comedy Back To The Outback. Per Deadline, the film also features Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Eric Bana, Guy Pearce, Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Rachel House, Celeste Barber, Wayne Knight, Aislinn Derbez, Diesel Cash La Torraca, Lachlan Ross Power, and Oscar-nominee Jacki Weaver.

The plot features a ragtop group of Australia’s deadliest creatures plotting an escape from their reptile house at the zoo — where humans gawk at them — to the Outback where their fangs and scales fit in without judgment. Urban’s role hasn’t been revealed as of press time, but Fisher leads the group as Maddie, a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured Thorny Devil lizard Zoe (Tapsell), a lovelorn hairy spider Frank (Pearce), and a sensitive scorpion Nigel (Imrie). The group has no choice but to take their nemesis, Pretty Boy (Minchin) — a cute but obnoxious koala — after he unexpectedly joins their escape.

Filmmakers Clara Knight (The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and the Kung Fu Panda trilogy editor) and Harry Cripps make their directorial debuts. Cripps (Penguin Bloom) also penned the script.

Rupert Gregson-Williams (Aquaman) will provide the music with Broadway’s Minchin penning the songs. ReelFX will provide the animation and imagery.

“I have always been touched by stories of hidden beauty. Maddie is both uniquely beauty and beast, and to get to present that message in comedy is the icing on the cake,” Knight shares of the project.

“Growing up in Australia, I spent a lot of time in the Blue Mountains which has many different types of snakes and spiders, and I always preferred them to the cute cuddly animals, so it’s such a treat to make a film where the heroes are these poisonous but beautiful little creatures. This film is a love letter to Australia’s incredibly diverse and unique wildlife,” adds Cripps.

The film is expected to launch in fall 2021 on Netflix.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com