IT’S the time of year when a lot of us spend some time sitting in a cinema taking in the latest Hollywood offering.
So we thought it was the perfect time to reflect on some of the best Australian movies that have featured animals and livestock.
Here are our top 10 – but what are yours? Let us know in the comments below.
10 – Crocodile Dundee
This 1986 comedy film is set in the Australian Outback and in New York City.
It stars Paul Hogan as Mick Dundee, and went on to be second-highest grossing film worldwide at the box office that year.
9 – Australia
This 2008 movie is the second-highest grossing Australian film ever, after Crocodile Dundee.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman it follows the story of a set of characters between 1939 and 1942.
8 – Phar Lap
This 1983 film starred Tom Burlinson and was written by Australian playwright David Williamson.
It focused on the story of the great race horse.
7 – The Cup
This 2011 biographical film focused on the 2002 Melbourne Cup race victory by Damien Oliver, following the death of his jockey brother Jason.
6 – The Silver Brumby
This 1993 movie starred Caroline Goodall, Russell Crowe and Amiel Daemion and was based on the Silver Brumby series of novels by Elyne Mitchell.
It tells the story of a mother telling her daughter a fable about the prince of the brumbies who must find its place among its kind, while one man makes it his mission to capture it and tame it.
Highlight: Russell Crowe singing to his dog.
5 – Storm Boy
This 1976 movie is based on the children’s book written by Colin Thiele and tells the story of a boy and his pelican.
Set on the coast of South Australia’s Coorong, Storm Boy rescues three birds and nurses them back to health. His father makes him release the birds, but one of them, Mr Percival, returns.
4 – Dot and the Kangaroo
This 1977 movie is based on the book by the same name from Ethel Pedley.
The movie is a mix between animation and live-action and follows the story of young Dot who gets lost in the Australian bush.
Dot meets a red kangaroo who has lost her joey. The Kangaroo promises to help Dot find her way home.
3 – Man From Snowy River
This 1982 movie was based on the Banjo Paterson poem The Man from Snowy River.
It featured Kirk Douglas, Jack Thompson, Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, Terence Donovan, and Chris Haywood.
2 – Red Dog
This 2011 movie stars dog Koko as the title character.
Koko is backed by acting names such as Josh Lucas, Rachael Taylor, John Batchelor, Noah Taylor, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Loene Carmen, Luke Ford, Neil Pigot, Rohan Nichol, Tiffany Lyndall-Knight, Costa Ronin, Eamon Farren and Arthur Angel.
The film is based on a true story from the novel Red Dog by Louis de Bernieres.
1 – Babe
This 1995 movie filmed in Robertson, NSW, wouldn’t have been the same without its cast of loveable farm livestock characters.
An adaptation of Dick King-Smith's 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, it tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheepdog.