Story
Maggie Diggins (voiced by Deborah Mailman) has all a wombat could ask for. She’s happily married to her childhood sweetheart Bradley (George Pullard); they both have secure jobs digging tunnels for a construction company; and they’ve just moved into their new dream home.
But then Bradley dies in a terrible work accident. Maggie blames local superhero, emu Flightless Feather (Frank Woodley), who saved everyone but Bradley. Maggie is determined to find out what really went wrong.
Things get more complicated when Maggie saves young sugar glider Sweetie (voiced by Ed Oxenbould) and becomes famous as the new local superhero, ‘Combat Wombat’. With Sweetie’s help, Maggie discovers that Flightless Feather and his mysterious manager, koala CeCe (voiced by Judith Lucy), are involved in some dodgy dealings.
Themes
Loss of a loved one; a scary villain
Violence
Combat Wombat has some mild violence. For example:
- A gang of naughty kids rampage through Sweetie’s convenience shop.
- A big brute threatens Sweetie and attacks Maggie. They get into a fight but no-one is hurt.
- Koala CeCe reveals that she’s actually a drop bear. She attacks Maggie, Flightless and Sweetie and chases them up a mountain.
- In the fight, CeCe falls off a giant cliff, probably to her death (which isn’t shown).
Sexual references
None noted.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None noted.
Nudity and sexual activity
Combat Wombat has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, there are a couple of references to Maggie’s big round bottom. She uses her bottom in fights to push over her opponents.
Product placement
None noted.
Coarse language
Combat Wombat has some very mild coarse language, including ‘sucker’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Combat Wombat is an Australian animation about an ordinary wombat whose life takes an unexpected turn when she’s confronted with loss. Quite unintentionally, Maggie becomes a superhero and reveals the criminal activities of a greedy tycoon and superhero manager.
Cute animations of Australian animals, plenty of humour, a great Australian voice cast and relatable characters make this production a good choice for a family audience with younger school-age children. Preschoolers might find it hard to follow the plot, and they might also be scared or upset by the death of Maggie’s husband and the scary drop bear. This is why we don’t recommend this movie for children under 4 years, and we do recommend parental guidance for children aged 4-6 years.
These are the main messages in Combat Wombat:
- Sometimes life forces you to change directions and reinvent yourself.
- The people you care about make your life rich.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, courage, determination, big dreams and self-belief.
Combat Wombat could also give parents you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:
- Greed and vanity: although Flightless Feather turns out to be a lovely person on the inside, he’s blinded by vanity and a desire to be famous and admired.
- Ruthlessness: CeCe claims that her criminal activities are justified by her aim of inspiring people and being a role model. But she manipulates, lies and even sacrifices people’s lives.