Product Description

A fat, ugly creature whose sole purpose in life is the pursuit of sexual gratification is rapidly taking over Australia! The Cane Toads were imported by the sackload from Hawaii to Australia in 1935 in an attempt to rid the country of the Greyback beetle, which was rapidly destroying their sugarcane crop. The Cane Toads adapted beautifully to their new surroundings. Problem was, the beetle could fly and the Cane Toad couldn't. What the Cane Toad is unusually good at, however, is making more Cane Toads--thousands upon thousands more. If Monty Python produced a National Geographic Special, it would be Cane Toads!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41912 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-07-17
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 47 minutes

Amazon.com
This odd documentary is for the audience that can't get enough of off-center, real-life tales akin to those captured by Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven). In the 1930s Australian sugar-cane farmers imported the bufo marinus, or cane toad, from Hawaii to destroy the crop-damaging greyback beetle. In short, the descendents of the original 102 toads virtually took over half a continent. We hear from all sides about the problem: the scientific studies of their mating habits (bruising), defense systems (poison that can kill a predator), and their eating habits (almost anything). Much of Mark Lewis's short film sticks with the common folk and their polarized feelings about the animal. Told with a great amount of wit, this 1987 documentary illustrates that the strangest things on film are always true. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews

Outstanding Example of Human Stupidity!
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History does an excellent job of illustrating just what can (and often does) happen when humans attempt to alter nature without fully researching the possible outcome. I have been using this video for several years with the middle school life science class that I teach at an independent school in Topeka, Kansas. The students love it, and they learn some important lessons in regard to our natural world and the evolution of life on the planet Earth.

Cane toads will crack you up!
I show this video in my environmental classes and the students LOVE it!!! This is one of the cleverest, funniest natural history videos out there--I only wish there were more videos by the same writer/director. It's not really just for scientists either...there's something in there for everyone.

I've shown this video to lots of people and have yet to meet someone who didn't love it. As the DVD cover says, this is what you'd get if Monty Python made National Geographic specials. It's a bit old and dated looking, but you'll hardly notice because you'll be laughing so hard. I wish it came with subtitles because the Aussie accent is sometimes hard to follow, so you have to listen closely.

I know a few people commented on the raunchy or bizarre aspects of the video but there's nothing here that's not PG. In all, I recommend it highly! It's a delight.

This is the best movie i have ever seen in science class
Okay... We we're studying ecosystems in 9th grade biology. In the middle of class my teacher totally cracks up, and tells us that we are going to have fun in class the next day. So we all come into class the next day, and surprise!!! a video about cane toads!!! Of course we were all excited(not really, we thought the teacher had gone a little whacko) but 5 minutes into the movie, every person was laughing their head off! This is the best movie i have ever seen in any science class!!! (or any classroom for that matter) IT talked aobut how everything went wrong when the cane toads were introduced into Australia, and how they now cover most of the northern part of Australia. It interviews a lot of aussies (one who is now addicted to smoking the cane toad poison and one who enjoys watching them mate... you can imagine how those two went over in a class full of high school freshman) and several scientists (one describes their mating habits) This is a totally awesome movie that had my whole class laughing (including the teacher) and also had us a little grossed out (in a good way.) Definitely buy this movie if you want a good laugh...its worth the 20 bucks!