Oddball (film)

Oddball
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Stuart McDonald
Produced by	Sheila Hanahan Stephen Kearney Richard Keddie
Written by	Peter Ivan
Starring	Shane Jacobson Coco Jack Gillies Sarah Snook Alan Tudyk
Music by	Cezary Skubiszewski
Cinematography	Damian Wyvill
Edited by	Cindy Clarkson Marcus D'Arcy Max Miller
Distributed by	Roadshow Films
Release date	17 September 2015
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$7 million
Box office	$10.1 million

Oddball (extended to Oddball and the Penguins in some regions) is a 2015 Australian family film directed by Stuart McDonald. It was released in September 2015 and stars Shane Jacobson, Coco Jack Gillies, Sarah Snook and Alan Tudyk. It is based on a true story.

On Middle Island off the coast of Warrnambool, Fairy Penguins have made their home, but foxes have found the island and have reduced the population of penguins. An eccentric chicken farmer named Swampy teams up with his granddaughter to train their mischievous dog, Oddball, to protect the penguins from these predators in an attempt to reunite his family and save their seaside town. As the penguin population shrinks, the Island stands to lose it's penguin sanctuary status and is set to become a whale watching spot for tourists. However since Oddball starts to protect the penguins, the penguin population starts to stabilize until one day Swampy cannot find Oddball on the Island. He is eventually found by the dog catcher who picked him up on the roadside inside town limits (the town being strictly off limits to Oddball). Swampy in the meantime discovers a tranquilizer dart beside the penguins on the island and comes to realize that not everyone wants to save the penguins. Will Swampy and Oddball be able to protect the penguins or will the Island become a whale watching station?

The film had its North American premiere at the opening weekend of Indianapolis's Heartland Film Festival in October, 2015 and opened the Toronto International Film Festival for Kids in 2016. It was an Official Selection, playing opening weekend at Chicago International Children's Film Festival, Sedona International Film Festival, Sonoma Film Festival, Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital in Washington D.C., Cleveland Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival, Miami International Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, Wisconsin Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and Traverse City Film Festival, among others. It also received a special screening at Utah's Tumbleweeds Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival.