*This article was originally intended to run December 2023. For reasons I held it back. Unfortunately, in that year, the only source of real information on this movie, www.ozmovies.com.au , decided to remove their articles on this movie. Wikipedia only used this source for their information as well. Also you’ll note my son’s age is 6 instead of his current age of 7.
I’m not entirely sure what made me think of this movie from my childhood. But when I googled how to watch it I told my children it was a Christmas movie mommy used to watch when she was little. After watching it I realized there are a few possible reasons to view this as a Christmas movie. The heartwarming message of friendship and kindness through time. Or, on the VHS tape we used to record The Camel Boy (1984) from the TV, there was a Christmas movie after.
But one could argue that Yoram Gross ‘pioneered’ the commercial viability of the technique despite the odds set against it.
The camel boy – review – photos. Ozmovies. (n.d.). https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/camel-boy#
The movie is actually about the Australian Pioneers who worked hard to open up trade routes, railroads, and later telegraph/telephone lines in the largely unexplored area between Port Augusta to Gerald Town including the Great Victoria Desert.1 This movie is based on actual events although as far as I can tell this particular expedition is made up. A boy named Ali (this movie unfortunately does not credit its voice actors. IMDB lists 5 actors only one of which is credited with a role [the one who doubles as a live action narrator]. The credits of the movie itself focus on the animation team and the camera workers, with the main song correctly attributed.) and his grandfather go to Australia with a string of camels to help Captain O’Connell (Ron Haddrick) complete this journey for money from the government. I’ve tried looking up some of the other city names but they are either made up or changed (Australia is trying to recognize that it took Australia from the Aboriginal people and changed names of locations from what is historically what the tribes had named them). The movie is about the struggles the caravan faces both interpersonally and externally as they make their journey. And does a 10 year check in on the characters to create a heartwarming ending.
The music and the filming technique of this movie are worth noting. The song “Walk, Walk, Walk” Composed and arranged by Bob Young, Lyrics by John Palmer, and sung by Robyn Moore is heard throughout the movie.2 While the words are only heard during the opening and closing credits it is also played in a bar by the piano player, and by harmonica by several of the named characters throughout the movie. The only other music heard is a popular bar fight song that I couldn’t name and wasn’t credited in the end credits, and some tense music played during a flash flood. The lyrics emphasize the point of the movie with the line, “We won’t forget the story of the early pioneers.” The choice to use just one song to link the story is one I’ve not seen done to this extent before and I was excited to notice it.
Animated works of the mixed media variety were certainly not the norm. Such films were and still are short-length, infrequent, specialist productions of political allegory and social satire.
The camel boy – review – photos. Ozmovies. (n.d.). https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/camel-boy#
The filming technique is a mix of live action footage of the Australian outback and animated characters layered over it. One article I read researching this movie said:
“If production logistics were not enough of a challenge, producers Yoram and Sandra Gross also sought to enter a somewhat closed market unaccustomed to the style of combining animated and live-action. By this time, the children’s market for animated film was securely dominated by such well-established production houses as Disney and Hanna-Barbera. Disney, in particular, had long ago set the paradigm for children’s entertainment with its fully animated, feature-length representations of classic fairytales or popular legends, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (supervising director: David hand, 1937), Cinderella (Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronomi, 1950) and Robin Hood (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1973). (3) Disney’s style of animation is determined by fantasy, and thus, in this sense, the ‘reality’ for and of children’s entertainment is a world completely created, completely fantastical. Animated works of the mixed media variety were certainly not the norm. Such films were and still are short-length, infrequent, specialist productions of political allegory and social satire.3”
This article also later states, “Perhaps Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Robert Zemeckis, 1988) is the only film which catapulted the technique of combining live and animated action to landmark commercial proportions. But one could argue that Yoram Gross ‘pioneered’ the commercial viability of the technique despite the odds set against it.4”
While I would say this movie is easily missed in history, I would go so far as to say, maybe it shouldn’t be. I greatly enjoyed watching this with my children, and my son (age 6) said he enjoyed the movie and would like to watch it again.
About the writer
Cori Domschot
Cori is a writer, wife, and mother to two adorable kiddos.
Cori Domschot’s ProfileTags for this article
More articles by Cori Domschot
Year of the Month
Sometimes throwing people together until they stick works.
The director of Kate Hamill's Sherlock Holmes parody stops by for a chat.
Year of the Month
Three sailors visit New York City on 24 hour leave
In Memoriam
Stuttering and Depression advocate passes in his sleep at age 54
Try to guess who did it, where, and with what with Lesley Ann Warren!
Department of
Conversation