The Notwind
December 3, 2012 3:45 AM   Subscribe

Frog Dreaming, aka The Quest (North America), aka Go Kids (UK), aka The Spirit Chaser (Sweden) features Henry Thomas as an American orphan in Australia investigating an aboriginal legend at a flooded quarry in Devils Knob national park. And yes, it's available in its entirety on youtube.
posted by mannequito (14 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Heh, I watched the hell out of this movie as a kid - skipping through the video, I can remember chunks of dialogue - but haven't thought about it in decades. Oh, that Donkegen.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:31 AM on December 3, 2012


I remember this! It was one of the first movies my family ever rented for some reason, but I remembered the title as The Donkigen.
posted by mullicious at 6:31 AM on December 3, 2012


I remember this too, as Frog Dreaming.
Don't remember a thing about it, other than it came out circa Time Guardians (no link, you're better off not knowing) and a million other Yanks Come Down Under films, and I dug it.

I'm not sure I would watch it again, although I suspect it would be a bit like Farscape.
Oh hey, there's Rachel Friend from Neighbours, Tamsin West from neighbours, and Katy Manning from Dr Who.....

I seem to recall it was about bunyips, and there was a scene on a raft.
posted by Mezentian at 6:41 AM on December 3, 2012


I remember this movie primarily because Young Scattercat had not yet mastered the concept of metaphor and layered meanings and thus was disappointed that a monster did not crawl out of the water and start eating everyone who denied its existence.
posted by Scattercat at 6:48 AM on December 3, 2012


What Scattercat said.
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:57 AM on December 3, 2012


Score (which from having seen the first few minutes seems good but very intrusive) by Brian May
Oh wait, there's another Brian May?
posted by Flashman at 7:29 AM on December 3, 2012


Oh man, I so thought this was going to be somehow related to Dot and the Kangaroo. The Bunyip Song used to creep the jimeny out of me as a wee lad.
posted by FatherDagon at 9:48 AM on December 3, 2012


I literally just watched this as part of my ongoing quest to track down a film I saw in my childhood. I knew it wasn't the film, but stumbled on it during my search and recognized it for something else -- a film my girlfriend has seen when she was a wee girl and barely remembered. She had described it to me, and I knew she would be happy to see it again.

Henry Thomas is near-somnombulant in it, for some reason, but there is much to like about it, including the fact that the Australian town Thomas is in seems entirely populated by rockabillies, the sister of his romatic interest seems to be a budding psychopath (played entirely for comedy), a lot of little bits of comedy that are legitimately funny, and a lake monster that is genuinely amazing. It's also a film about a mystery that an inventive boy seeks to solve doing, essentially, what a journalist does -- researching and interviewing locals. And he solves it, and the solution is pretty astonishing.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 11:15 AM on December 3, 2012


In my experience, this movie is the answer to about half of the "what-is-this-movie-I-kinda-remember" questions asked on the internet.
posted by Wrongshanks at 12:12 PM on December 3, 2012


I remember this movie primarily because Young Scattercat had not yet mastered the concept of metaphor and layered meanings and thus was disappointed that a monster did not crawl out of the water and start eating everyone who denied its existence.

I'm pretty sure this is the movie that taught me the concept of metaphor. I remember being quite annoyed with it when it ended. But it kept picking at my brain, and the next day I decided I actually liked it a lot.

Of course, up until today I also "remembered" Jean Claude Van Damme in it. Who (quick IMDB search) is apparently in a different movie also called "The Quest", which I know I've never seen, but must have been vaguely aware of and conflated with this one.
posted by Roommate at 12:22 PM on December 3, 2012


Oh wait, there's another Brian May?

Yes, and he rather confusingly scored "Freddy's Dead".

(sad trombone)
posted by John Shaft at 2:12 PM on December 3, 2012


Bunny Ultramod, this post exists because of your question. I'd been looking for this movie somewhere online off and on for the past few years, and seeing your question reminded me I hadn't checked since last winter. Success, finally!
posted by mannequito at 2:23 PM on December 3, 2012


I was fascinated with mythology as a kid, and this is one of the films that felt like a bait-and-switch to me. The other was Chariots of Fire which I somehow thought from the title was going to be about the god Apollo. As a kid sometimes you know you are watching a good movie, but can't quite get over the mismatch with your wrong expectations. I'll give this a re-watch and see how I feel about it now.
posted by BrotherCaine at 3:03 PM on December 3, 2012


Spoilers: Henry Thomas doesn't drown. Donkegin is a piece of machinery. The "devil" is a scarecrow. Did that ruin everything?

Freaky movie when I was a kid though.
posted by ostranenie at 5:27 PM on December 4, 2012


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