History Main / LandDownUnder

* ''Film/TheRoyalHotel'' is set in a bar in the Australian Outback, and most of the local population consists of drunken, sexually entitled miners.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Got killed]] [[Music/MenAtWork in a land down under...]]\\
[[SwarmOfRats By rats and]] [[ThreateningShark sharks with]] [[EnergyWeapon frickin' lasers...]]''[[note]]Creator/SteveIrwin was not quite so hostile, though, and the striped marsupial dogs with freakishly large mouths have been dead since three years before World War II.[[/note]]]]

* ''Film/KangarooJack''

* ''Film/TheManFromSnowyRiver'' and ''Return To Snowy River''.

In RealLife, UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife ''is'' unique (the continent is one of the handful of megadiverse lands in the world), being dominated by marsupials rather than placental mammals. The dangers of the native animals have been noted by many -- US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/obama-visits-canberra-school/3677326 brought it up when he visited Australia]] -- but most of these creatures only live in remote areas and/or are usually much less aggressive than widely touted, leading to Australia actually having a very low rate of native-animal-caused injuries and fatalities. However, in Hollywood, EverythingTryingToKillYou, although [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute any sufficiently ''cute'' animal, no matter how wild, is inexplicably safe]], including [[NiceMice mice]].[[note]]While the [[PuzzlingPlatypus 'duck-billed' platypus]] and the {{kangaroo|sRepresentAustralia}} are animals that are often treated as cute in Hollywood, in truth they can be very dangerous: the male platypus has poisonous spurs that cause non-lethal but ''excruciating'' pain, the kangaroo can disembowel you with a single well-placed kick and even koalas have sharp teeth and claws that can cause nasty injuries if cornered.[[/note]] This habit of making Australia a DeathWorld often results in Australians being considered [[AwesomeAussie ludicrously tough]] and [[TheBogan utterly lacking tact]].

* Balon ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS aka Valon, aka Varon]]) was given a stylized Cockney accent that most people mistook for an Australian accent in the 4Kids dub of ''Anime/YuGiOh''. The abridged series naturally pokes fun at this.

* For a period in the late [[TheEighties '80s]] the Comicbook/XMen went further underground than usual and operated out of a hidden base in the outback (requisitioned from a band of cyborg Road Warrior rejects) with the aid of a mysterious {{Magical|NativeAmerican}} [[strike:Native American]] [[strike:Australian Aborigine]] Indigenous Australian teleporter. This was one of the few places where they mixed up both Sydney and the outback. (Odd, considering Creator/ChrisClaremont has been to Sydney.)
* When ComicBook/YoungJustice visited the Sydney Olympics, there were kangaroos bounding through the Olympic Village (which was seemingly situated on the side of a cliff within easy eyeshot of Sydney Harbour).
* One place the mining industry ''did'' get some time in the spotlight was in Dreamwave's ''Anime/TransformersEnergon'' run.
* An early villain of ''Comicbook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'' was "Kongarilla", a kangaroo turned into a giant by a secret organization. Kongaroo hailed from "Aukstralia" (Earth-C's version of Australia).
* There was an issue of the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' comic supposedly set in Australia, but which actually appeared to be taking place in TheWildWest as everyone walked around with a pistol on their hip and there appeared to be no organised law enforcement of any kind.
* The story in which ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio go to Australia is actually centered around the opal-mining industry.
* The goal of the main character Yorick throughout most of ''Comicbook/YTheLastMan'' is to get to Australia to meet his girlfriend Beth, who was in Australia researching Aboriginal culture. In this universe, post-{{Gendercide}} Australia has become the single most powerful navy in the world, based on having the only female piloted submarines, and the entirety of Sydney has become a heroin addicted slum from south-east Asian pirates smuggling drugs into the country.
* ComicBook/SuskeEnWiske: ''De Blinkende Boemerang'' takes place in Australia.

* ''Comicbook/JudgeDredd'' features Australia as the post-apocalyptic Oz. Most of the Oz-centric stories are either set in the megacity known as the Sydney-Melbourne Conurb; or in the heavily irradiated Radback (which is like the Outback, but with more mutant wildlife and radiation storms). “Ozzies” are portrayed as stereotypical 1950’s Australians, with the local Judge force content to make chit-chat with the citizens while enjoying a barbie on the beach.
* ''ComicBook/TheSensationalSheHulk'': The [[NoNameGiven unnamed Australian murderer]] in issue #8. His first bit of dialogue is an incohherent string of Australian slang and his own lawyer refers to him as "the slimiest snake ever to crawl out of the outback".

* Russell Brandon's "Year of the Angry Rabbit" has gonzo Australian politicians Taking Over the World, only to have the country overrun by carnivorous KillerRabbit outbreak. (It also, in 2000, has Nixon being elected President of the US in "the eighth attempt".)

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'''s fifth season features an Australian character, Jasmine, who displays an stereotypical "crocodile hunter" behavior. In a rare use for the stereotype, it's a female character.

See also [[{{UsefulNotes/Australia}} Useful Notes on Australia]].

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Australia being a land with EverythingTryingToKillYou, and its natives being crazy buggers who epitomise the most badass part of the HumansAreSurvivors trope that applies to all of humanity InUniverse as a background RunningGag. For instance, it is noted by Loki in the sequel that the grand scale reality warp at the end of the first book, which jumbled up time and space and had lingering effects (i.e. lots of long extinct species reappearing across the planet), and when he gets to Australia, he states that "Australia now has its formerly extinct range of horrifying giant creatures to add to its current range of horrifying small to medium sized creatures. The locals are, of course, delighted and celebrating by trying to find out how such formerly extinct creatures taste when barbecued."
** Several Australian reviewers admitted that, yeah, this is basically what would happen.

* When the heroes of ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' need to find Sydney, Australia, a helpful school arrange themselves as a likeness of the Opera House to confirm that it's where they want to go. ''Finding Nemo'' also features what must be the highest-rent dentist's office in the ''world'', what with the stunning harborside views and the price of Sydney real estate. Well, he ''was'' doing work on the Prime Minister in one scene...
* [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's]] ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' is set in Australia and revels in stereotypes, though its Dundee analog is the villain.

* Probably originated with ''Film/CrocodileDundee'', which spurred an interest in this {{Flanderization}} of Australia. Note the movie was ''made by Australians'' and often cited as them enjoying playing up the image to mess with tourists.
** Hell, it's done ''in the movie''. The titular Mr. Dundee plays up his wildman-living-off-the-land bit to further impress the tourists.
** Mick even does it to his best friend (by pretending to not know what day of the week it is), leading to the memorable line "Doesn't know, doesn't care. Lucky bastard!"

In RealLife, UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife ''is'' unique (the continent is one of the handful of megadiverse lands in the world), being dominated by marsupials rather than placental mammals. The dangers of the native animals have been noted by many -- US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/obama-visits-canberra-school/3677326 brought it up when he visited Australia]] -- but most of these creatures only live in remote areas and/or are usually much less aggressive than widely touted, leading to Australia actually having a very low rate of naive-animal-caused injuries and fatalities. However, in Hollywood, EverythingTryingToKillYou, although [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute any sufficiently ''cute'' animal, no matter how wild, is inexplicably safe]], including [[NiceMice mice]].[[note]]While the [[PuzzlingPlatypus 'duck-billed' platypus]] and the {{kangaroo|sRepresentAustralia}} are animals that are often treated as cute in Hollywood, in truth they can be very dangerous: the male platypus has poisonous spurs that cause non-lethal but ''excruciating'' pain, the kangaroo can disembowel you with a single well-placed kick and even koalas have sharp teeth and claws that can cause nasty injuries if cornered.[[/note]] This habit of making Australia a DeathWorld often results in Australians being considered [[AwesomeAussie ludicrously tough]] and [[TheBogan utterly lacking tact]].

** Foster's is Australian for "Foreigner's Excuse For Aussie Piss"; its very rare to find in six-pack form in the various liquor sellers, let alone being served in an Aussie pub. If an Australian is asking for Foster's, they're not homesick, they're just trying to determine if they're in another country.
* A Chinese airline tries and screws up by advertising its new flights to Australia with a picture of a woman playing with a kangaroo on the beach.
** Not automatically an error, a few places in Queensland and NSW do have kangaroos on the beaches.
** The playing part is possible, if you define playing as brutal lacerations...
*** Followed swiftly by a bullet to the head due to an overly-twitchy Park Ranger.

[[folder:Commercials]]
* Commercials for Foster's beer spread the ''shrimp on the barbie'' image, though ironically Foster's (supposedly "Australian for beer") is quite possibly the most unpopular beer in Australia... and, of course, the fact that in Australia, "shrimp" are pretty much always known as "prawns".
** Film/{{District 9}}
** Fookin Prawns.
** Nowadays, Fosters is pretty much an American beer with an iconic Australian name.
** Foster's is Australian for "Foreigner's Excuse For Aussie Piss"; its very rare to find in six-pack form in the various liquor sellers, let alone being served in an Aussie pub. If an Australian is asking for Foster's, they're not homesick, they're just trying to determine if they're in another country.
* A Chinese airline tries and screws up by advertising its new flights to Australia with a picture of a woman playing with a kangaroo on the beach.
** Not automatically an error, a few places in Queensland and NSW do have kangaroos on the beaches.
** The playing part is possible, if you define playing as brutal lacerations...
*** Followed swiftly by a bullet to the head due to an overly-twitchy Park Ranger.
[[/folder]]

In RealLife, UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife ''is'' unique (the continent is one of the handful of megadiverse lands in the world), being dominated by marsupials rather than placental mammals. The dangers of the native animals have been noted by many -- US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/obama-visits-canberra-school/3677326 brought it up when he visited Australia]] -- but most of these creatures only live in remote areas. However, in Hollywood, EverythingTryingToKillYou, although [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute any sufficiently ''cute'' animal, no matter how wild, is inexplicably safe]], including [[NiceMice mice]].[[note]]While the [[PuzzlingPlatypus 'duck-billed' platypus]] and the {{kangaroo|sRepresentAustralia}} are animals that are often treated as cute in Hollywood, in truth they can be very dangerous: the male platypus has poisonous spurs that cause non-lethal but ''excruciating'' pain, the kangaroo can disembowel you with a single well-placed kick and even koalas have sharp teeth and claws that can cause nasty injuries if cornered.[[/note]] This habit of making Australia a DeathWorld often results in Australians being considered [[AwesomeAussie ludicrously tough]] and [[TheBogan utterly lacking tact]].

* In the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' universe, Cobra operative Major Bludd is from Sydney, and once served with the Australian SAS. On the Joe team, the survival expert Outback is depicted in the UK comics iteration as an Australian.

In RealLife, UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife ''is'' unique (the continent is one of the handful of megadiverse lands in the world), being dominated by marsupials rather than placental mammals. The dangers of the native animals have been noted by many - US President UsefulNotes/BarackObama [[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-17/obama-visits-canberra-school/3677326 brought it up when he visited Australia]] - but most of these creatures only live in remote areas. However, in Hollywood, EverythingTryingToKillYou, although [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute any sufficiently ''cute'' animal, no matter how wild, is inexplicably safe]], including [[NiceMice mice]].[[note]]While the [[PuzzlingPlatypus 'duck-billed' platypus]] and the {{kangaroo|sRepresentAustralia}} are animals that are often treated as cute in Hollywood, in truth they can be very dangerous: the male platypus has poisonous spurs that cause non-lethal but ''excruciating'' pain, the kangaroo can disembowel you with a single well-placed kick and even koalas have sharp teeth and claws that can cause nasty injuries if cornered.[[/note]] This habit of making Australia a DeathWorld often results in Australians being considered [[AwesomeAussie ludicrously tough]] and [[TheBogan utterly lacking tact]].

* Australian musical comedy duo The Scared Weird Little Guys wrote a song about [[strike: all]] some of the dangerous animals to be found in Australia - "Come to Australia, you might accidentally get killed!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWFGd1nMa1A

-->'''Dylan:''' Why would anybody want to go there? What is the point of that country? I usually never leave the house but, we all went to Australia recently. The whole family. It was a ridiculous place. Located three quarters of a mile from the surface of the Sun. People audibly crackling as they walk past you on the street. That's why they all barbecue. You don't need to cook somewhere like that. You just bring the shit out, fling it on a grill, and it bursts into flames. It's not supposed to be inhabited. And when they're not doing that, frying themselves outside - they all fling themselves into the sea. Which is inhabited almost exclusively by things designed to kill you. Sharks, jellyfish, swimming knives. They're all in there.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheLegendOfTheVampire'' has the Mystery Inc. gang visit Australia for vacation. They arrive in Sydney before traveling through the outback to a rock festival being terrorized by the Yowie Yahoo (a giant vampire drawn from two real Australian myths - the Yowie, a Bigfoot or Yeti-type creature, and the Yara-ma-yha-who, a red frog-like vampire creature said to hide in fig trees and feed on unsuspecting travelers using suckers on the ends of its feet and hands). It also features, according to some, the worst (or, at least, the most bizarre) attempts at an Australian accent ever heard.

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* ''Film/PointBreak1991'' concludes on Bells Beach, Torquay - [[CaliforniaDoubling actually filmed in Oregon]]. The real Bells Beach is a good 2km from the nearest tree - and it's a eucalpyt, not a pine.

* ''A Cry In The Dark'' A.K.A. ''Film/EvilAngels'' is based on the true story of the Chamberlain family, whose daughter Azaria was taken from their tent by a dingo whilst camping at Ayers Rock. This film is infamous for Creator/MerylStreep's accent (sometimes mocked as a failed Australian accent, it's actually a reasonably successful - but undeniably memorable - imitation of the New Zealand-born [[RealityIsUnrealistic Lindy Chamberlain's actual accent]]) and the line 'a dingo ate my baby!'

-->'''Clio/Kira:''' I swear to you, sisters, by the fires of Hephaestus - I mean, ''(switches to Australian accent)'' by the fires of all the shrimp on the barbie - I will help this Sonny Malone to fulfill his destiny!

** Raptor from ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'', the zombie rockstar who chomps on people with his decomposed chest-cavity. Possibly some sort of perverse homage to the late, great Bon Scott of Music/{{ACDC}} - where else did they get a dead Aussie rock god from?... Plus he's skinny enough!

-->'''Tycho:''': Feast, my servants. Feast now, and grow... [[FlatWhat what]]. What do you want? Why are you back? You should be feasting!\\

-->If yer a fukken fair dinkum fukken full-grown Aussie, this is what you'd have fuh breakfast, ya fukken dog cunts! A fukken VB - LONGNECK - at twenty-to-eight in the fukken mornin'! Git that up ya!

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E16BartVsAustralia Bart vs. Australia]]" manages to make several goofs - such as a didgeridoo made out of bamboo, being played by a woman - as well as purposefully subverted stereotypes, such as a postage stamp proudly claiming, "30 Years of Electricity!" Surprisingly, [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales many Aussies are quite fond of that episode]].

---> '''Aussie MP''': Hey! Mr. Prime Minister! ANDY!!!!\\
'''PM lounging on an inner-tube, naked, drinking a can of Fosters''': Oi, mates, what's the good word?

---> '''Croc Dundee Parody''': You call that a knife?\\

'''Croc Dundee Parody''': * This* is a knife.\\
'''Bart''': [confused] That's not a knife, that's a spoon.\\
'''Croc Dundee Parody''': Alright, alright you win. I see you've played knifey-spoony before.

---> '''Marge''': I'll just have a coffee.\\
'''Pub owner''': Beer it is.\\
'''Marge''': No, coffee.\\
'''Pub owner''': Beer.\\
'''Marge''': Coff-ee.\\
'''Pub owner''': Bee-eer.\\
'''Marge''': C-O...\\
'''Pub owner''': B-E...

--->'''Australian teen:''' (Holding a frog) They's looks like Kangaroos, but they's reptiles they's is!\\
'''Marge:''' Oh, we have those in America, we call them "Bullfrogs".\\

** One moment that ''isn't'' especially well liked is when Bart cuts off Bruno's phone call with, "I think I hear a dingo eating your baby," a rather tasteless reference to the tragic story of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Azaria_Chamberlain the death of Azaria Chamberlain]], though Bruno's reaction could imply it was meant to be a case of DudeNotFunny in-universe.

* When the X-Men appeared on ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' and again in ''WesternAnimation/PrydeOfTheXMen'' (the pilot for the first attempt to make an X-Men animated series, which wasn't picked up) usually Canadian X-Man ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} sported an Australian accent. Presumably because the producers couldn't imagine the toughest mutant in the world coming from anywhere else. (Decades later, it would turn out they were right - but at least Creator/HughJackman was polite enough to fake it.)

[[SwarmOfRats By rats and]] [[EnergyWeapon sharks with frickin' lasers...]]''[[note]]Creator/SteveIrwin was not quite so hostile, though, and the striped marsupial dogs with freakishly large mouths have been dead since three years before World War II.[[/note]]]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Menagerie is a continent that is controlled by [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]]. Located in the south-east of Remnant, two-thirds of its landmass is a harsh desert made uninhabitable by how dangerous the native wildlife is. As a refuge for any Faunus in the world to retreat to if [[FantasticRacism life elsewhere becomes too harsh]], the single settlement region is cramped and overcrowded. While Humans gave it to the Faunus as a peace-offering over the Faunus fight for equality, it's strongly implied that they did so only as a means to try to get rid of the Faunus in a more indirect way. Menagerie has instead become a symbol of just how unequal the relationship between Humans and Faunus remains, with many Faunus either being extremely tired of the whole ordeal and simply wanting to be left alone, while more radicalized elements like the White Fang working towards more ruthless intentions.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Menagerie is a continent that is controlled by [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]]. Located in the south-east of Remnant, two-thirds of its landmass is a harsh desert made uninhabitable by how dangerous the native wildlife is. As a refuge for any Faunus in the world to retreat to if [[FantasticRacism life elsewhere becomes too harsh]], the single settlement region is cramped and overcrowded. While Humans gave it to the Faunus as a peace-offering over the Faunus fight for equality, Menagerie has instead become a symbol of just how unequal the relationship between Humans and Faunus remains.

* An early Australian promo for ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' had Dexter giving an interview in character to an Australian interviewer. The interviewer asked Dexter where he would want to live if he had to live in Australia, to which he replied "Adelaide, because it's the serial killer capital of Australia"...cue pissed off reactions from the Mayor's office, the Board of Tourism and various other parties when word of it got out. The promo didn't air in Adelaide, nor anywhere else for that matter.

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'': Jeice is from "Space Australia".
** More specifically, Space Brisbane. Go Space Broncos!

* ''VideoGame/EscapeFromMonkeyIsland'' features Ozzie Mandrill, an Australian property developer and {{expy}} for UsefulNotes/RupertMurdoch. He bests Guybrush in a bout of insult swordfighting, [[spoiler:and turns out to be working with [=LeChuck=] to find and control the Ultimate Insult]].

* ''{{Film/Sirens}}'' is set in Australia, where a British minister and his wife visit the home of famed painter Norman Lindsey. The [[BritishStuffiness repressed wife]] is fascinated by the free-spirited models and learns to embrace her sexuality. Notably not set in the outback ''or'' a major city.

In RealLife, UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} is a vibrant, diverse and multicultural country. The population is one of the most urbanised in the world (more so than in America or the UK). [[http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/env_glance.html More than 80% of people live close to the coast,]] while the interior is sparsely populated. [[HollywoodAtlas In Hollywood]], Australia is a [[TheSavageSouth primitive barren wasteland]] consisting ''entirely'' of Outback desert, [[YouDirtyRat rats]], [[AngryGuardDog dingoes]], [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile crocodiles]], [[BoxingKangaroo kangaroos and some other marsupials]], and occasionally a couple of rural people who run around wielding bowie knives and boomerangs. People talk with a grating accent, apparently a blend of Cockney English, New Zealander and vaguely British extraction called "Ostrayan" or more concisely "Strine".