Frog Dreaming
The movie that brought
Australia into the mainstream better than any before it, was and
always will be, Crocodile Dundee. First released in 1986, it was
purely Australian, but done in a way where Americans could get the
jokes. After its huge success, Paul Hogan starred in a series of
commercials promoting Australia as the premiere tourist destination
across the world.
Following this boom,
all eyes were on Australia, with a thirst for films that showed the
country’s sprawling landscape, unique culture and beautiful
wildlife in an interesting story with characters true to the culture.
But also released in 1986 and taking advantage of this newfound
fascination with our country, filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith had
just made a small flick starring a then very young and unknown Nicole
Kidman, that wasn’t received well in it’s time but would go on to
become something of a cult classic. “BMX Bandits” told the story
of two expert BMX bikers and their friend Judy (Kidman) who stumble
onto a carton of walkie talkies, then become the targets of bank
robbers. It was made on such a small budget, but pulled off well for
what it was, that its director proved he could make big concept
stories on small budgets. “Frog Dreaming”, also known as “The
Quest” and “The Go-kids” internationally, would continue his
signature style of filmmaking. The director envisioned a story
straight from the stories of Aboriginal history itself, and to pull
off this unusual tale, would need a well known face who could draw in
the kids, locally and overseas.
After “E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial” was a massive hit in 1982, most of its cast
seemed to disappear from screens, save for Drew Barrymore who would
go on to make some racy teen flicks and a string of personal problems
before cleaning herself up. But E.T.’s main star, young Henry
Thomas, would be offered the opportunity to play the leading role in
a small Aussie film called Frog Dreaming. Thomas was the main draw
card of the film, coming off the massive success of E.T and after
arriving in remote Victorian towns such as Woods Point and various
parts of Healesville and the Mornington-Peninsula, he must have been
the superstar of the shoot, playing along side a string of amateur
Aussie actors. The kid proved he could act in E.T., playing the
passionate and juvenile Eliot, but his brilliant performance can also
be attributed to the directing duties of one Mr. Steven Spielberg. He
does reasonably well in Frog Dreaming, but the amateur feel and look
of the film can distract from the fact that his character Cody, is
well thought out and compelling, but the young actor wasn’t in the
hands of an actor’s director. Now onto the story…
The films opens looking
out onto the deep, murky waters of an uncharted lake, where something
sinister awaits. First, bubbles start to appear on the surface, slow
and small to begin with, then stronger and louder. As the surface of
water changes, a dark, grotesque shape materialises, rising above the
surface to take whatever so happens to be floating on the surface. An
absent minded man in a small fishing boat cannot escape the power of
the beast coming from beneath him.
Young Thomas plays Cody
Walpole. Moving to Australia from the United States after his parents
died, Cody lives in a small country town where he spends his time
inventing things and breaking as many rules as he can to see those
inventions realised. We meet him as he’s about to embark on one of
these elaborate stunts, where he’s fitted out his BMX with an
engine and wheels that can attach it to the nearby rail tracks.
Whizzing along the tracks, with no regard for whether or not a train
could come along and flatten him at any second, the whole town turns
out to watch Cody. He completes his silly stunt without a scratch,
but not without getting a telling off from the local chief of police.
On one of his local
nature hikes through Devil’s Knob National Park with two girls in
tow, Cody just so happens to stumble upon the previously mentioned
lake. It is an eerie place in every sense of the word, but also
strangely beautiful. Brown muddy water is towered over by tall
yellowstone cliffs and rugged trees that could only be as old as the
land itself. Always with a sense of adventure, Cody ventures to a
cliff top and jumps into the water. Fun and excitement soon turn into
fear, as there is clearly a presence lurking not just in the water,
but all around the lake itself. A rusty old windmill starts to spin,
with no breath of a wind to help it, and objects are seamlessly
pulled towards the centre of the lake. Cody and the girls get away,
but as any fourteen year would, Cody must get to the bottom of the
truth of what he saw, even if that means venturing into the bottom of
the lake itself.
He asks around the
local town, but no one seems to know this waterhole exists, as it
doesn’t show up on any maps. Turning to some of the local
Indigenous peoples, Cody hears about the truth behind the mysterious
lake. He is told there is something down there, and it’s
known to the Aboriginal locals as “Donkegin”. Whatever, or
whoever, enters its territory will not live to tell the tale.
However, the fearless and enterprising Cody isn’t phased by this
and will discover the truth of the legend of Frog Dreaming, whatever
it takes. But before he can, he will first have to Dance with the
Devil himself.
This film stands out
for me as one of the most memorable and unique childhood films I came
to discover. There is something alluring about its premise that
appeals to every kid, and the kid within us. At some point, we’ve
all wandered off into the bush (or at least wanted to), stopped to
play in some creek or lake and always wondered… is there anything
down there? With water that is too hard to see through, we can only
imagine that aside from a few fish, tadpoles and frogs, a creature of
some kind swims around in there. Like the mystery of the Loch Ness
monster, playing with the question of “Is it there, or is it not
there?” Frog Dreaming toys with this idea as well, and has a lot of
fun with. The director builds up a great sense of atmosphere
throughout the film, that is both tense, mysterious and foreboding.
Cody is probably a little too curious and daring for his own good,
and even goes as far as to rig himself an underwater breathing
apparatus out of a fishbowl and oxygen in barrels he creates from
pressuring water – seriously, this kid is smart and can make
anything out of just about anything. Again, another appealing aspect
of this film to me as a kid. Remember the times in your own backyard
when you thought how cool it would be just to invent something? Or
wondering if you could sneak into that old junkyard, pick out a few
parts and build something cool? I might have attempted that as kind
at some point, nothing to rival the technical skills of young Cody.
Although small in scale
and amateur in its production, Frog Dreaming is still effective in
it’s stronger parts and continues to hold up today almost thirty
years later as a great family film. It pays respect to the legends
and ideas it toys with, and although not everything is as it seems in
the lake as Cody discovers, there is surely a spirit there of some
kind; connected to the Dreamtime, which the Aboriginal people’s
speak of and protect, with only a select special few, including Cody,
coming to know the real truth of Frog Dreaming.
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