Oddball

Oddball is a new Australian movie with the appeal of a children’s classic. Based on the real life story of a Warrnambool chicken farmer, Allan “Swampy” Marsh, and his Maremma dog, Oddball, it tells how one man’s approach to wildlife conservation changed the established order.

Actor Shane Jacobson (Kenny) stars as the unlikely conservationist, as he and his granddaughter struggle to save an island of penguins from encroaching feral animals. X-Press caught up with Jacobson while he was in town for CinefestOz.   

The Middle Island Maremma project became a stunning success, lifting the number of penguins in the area more than ten times over. Indeed, it has become template for other attempts at wildlife conservation. “It’s not too often you get to tell a real story, an Australian story, from a township, about a chicken farmer who helps penguins! Literally, Swampy said ‘I’ve got a Maremma that is bred to defend chickens, and penguins are just chickens in a dinner suit. I’’ll just whack my dog on the island and save them.’ And he was right.”

Jacobson found it easy to relate to Swampy for the role. “Swampy is a larger than life character. He’s a guy with an ever present smile, a big bubbly personality that really enjoys life. I got him as soon as I met him. It was a pretty easy transition for me to play him. The hardest part was getting the perm. Other than that it wasn’t hard to get Swampy, as there is a little bit of Swampy in all Australians.”

Obviously Oddball was not a film where Jacobson could obey the old adage of never working with either animals or children. Not that he would want to, as he really enjoyed the experience. For him the hardest part was not stealing his canine co-star (Kia) off the trainer at the end of the day. “I’m a dog person and he’s easy to spend time with as he is a great dog. Maremma’s are God’s bouncers for small animals.”

Coco Jake Gillies, who plays his on screen granddaughter, also quickly bonded with Jacobson. A father himself, he didn’t find it hard to transition to playing a grandfather; after all, as he says, he looked a little like Santa. “As soon as she’s on screen, I know no one is going to be paying attention to me in the scene. She has eyes that would melt lead. She’s a great little actress.”

Still, Oddball did lead to some strange acting territory for him. Things that he never thought himself ever doing in a film, but put him in the esteemed company of Morgan Freeman and David Attenborough.  “Narrate a love scene for penguins. Tick, done. It’s off the check list now,”  joked Jacobson. “Penguins are inconceivably cute. Everything a clown does in a circus to make people laugh, a penguin will do trying to walk three steps. They never look like they are in control of their movements.”

Originally published in X-Press Magazine