Digging into the archives for Crocodile Dundee: Part 2

This is the second in a two-part series about items from the NFSA collection relating to the film.

Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee was a clever extension of the Hoges character created by Paul Hogan for Australian television and also featured in the ‘put another shrimp on the barbie’ tourism campaign.

Crocodile Dundee was an unparalleled hit with both Australian and international audiences, taking $100 million in Australia alone (adjusted for inflation). In the US it was only pipped at the post as the most popular film of 1986 by Top Gun.

This is a rare chance to see the diverse approaches to marketing the film in different countries, from Germany and Poland, to Japan, Russia and the United States.

International film posters

It’s interesting to see how diverse posters for the same movie can be. Compare the US and Australian posters featuring Hogan, who was a known face, with the more abstract designs from Poland, Russia and Czechoslovakia. Artists in Eastern Bloc countries used to create posters for international films from scratch, free from having to reproduce US studio marketing materials.

Click images to enlarge

Above: Australian and international posters for Crocodile Dundee, 1986. Images provided courtesy of Rimfire Films Limited.

‘A crocodile for kissing’

These German lobby cards show the story of the film, displayed in cinemas to entice moviegoers. The official subtitle of the film Crocodile Dundee: Ein Krokodil zum Küssen in Germany translates as ‘A crocodile for kissing’.

Above: German lobby cards for Crocodile Dundee: Ein Krokodil zum Küssen, 1986. Images provided courtesy of Rimfire Films Limited.

An a-peeling soundtrack

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The wistful and yet danceable song ‘Live it Up’ by Australian band Mental As Anything provides the soundtrack for a very 80s party scene in New York in the film.

Propelled by the popularity of the film, ‘Live it Up’ was Mental as Anything’s most successful song, reaching number two on the charts in Australia. It was also a Top 10 hit in Ireland, the UK, Norway, Germany and New Zealand.

This limited edition banana-shaped vinyl picture disc (left) for the song was released in the UK by Epic Records. The b-side ‘Good Friday’ has a calypso feel to it which may account for the playful banana-shape.

Production stills

The gallery below features a selection of production stills from the film. Some of these are taken from the film’s 1986 press kit and include the original captions. Pre-dating the wide usage of email, the internet and digital photography, the press kit was a physical package that was sent out by the production company to film journalists and critics to help market the film.

Above: production stills for Crocodile Dundee, 1986. Images provided courtesy of Rimfire Films Limited.

See Part One: Crocodile Dundee – A Celebration for rushes from the film, a financial prospectus, sound equipment and more.