Customer Reviews

Cane Toads [VHS]

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

In the serious opening of "CANE TOADS" we are told that in the 1930s sugar cane was one of Australia's major exports, but in North Queensland farmers had a problem that threatened their crops -- the dreaded cane grub. In some places the devastating cane grub and beetle infestation reduced crop output ratio from about 1000 tons to less than one ton. Something had to be done. At the 1932 World Conference of Sugar Technology in Puerto Rico, entomologist Raquel Dexter suggested the Bufo Marinus -- or Cane Toad -- be imported from Hawaii. The idea was that it would eat the Greyback beetle, parent of the cane grub. In 1935, 102 of these amphibious immigrants were introduced to Australia. Problem was, the cane toads ate almost everything that moved -- except the underground cane grub and the voracious cane-eating flying parent beetle. One male and female toad couple can produce over 40,000 fertile eggs in a season. Today, grapefruit-sized cane toads dominate the northern half of Queensland.

Writer and director Mark Lewis, who has cornered the market on twisted animal documentaries ("A Natural History of the Chicken, "Rat," and "Animalicious") has fashioned an unexpectedly quirky, esoteric and often hysterical film about a serious problem. Mixed in with the scientific information, much of it delivered by Monty Pythonesque but legitimate experts, are the common folk and farmers who are either devoted friends or avowed enemies of the notorious, sex-obsessed toad. Speaking of sexual obsession, you will see a love-struck male toad dodging cars to spend eight hours mating with a very dead-in-the-middle-of-the-road female. Much of the movie is cleverly photographed from the toads' point-of view.

This is a great nature film that brilliantly underscores the dangers of well-intentioned humans tampering with the natural order of things. The catchy Aussie folk song "Cane Toads a Comin'" is still ringing in my ears. Also on the disc is "Signing Off," a bonus short film about an elderly New Zealand disc jockey's last day on the job. He has been let go since research indicates his program of nostalgia tunes literally no longer has any listeners. Oh, there is one old lady. And her simple request for a favorite tune essentially ends up destroying the station and the building. A zany, weirdly sentimental masterpiece of chaos and destruction. Both films highly recommended. Yes, you will laugh out loud.

I took a class just for credit wherein the professor showed this movie to us on a day when she had other business to attend to. None of us thought anything of it at first. She had said we would all really enjoy it, but she really loves being a biologist and probably enjoys most documentaries. Much to our shock, this hilariously cheeky film starts rolling! I don't think I ever laughed so hard in a class before. This documentary is amazing, bizarre, and since it holds your attention so well with its hilarity, it's oddly informative and educational. Anyone who likes the quirkier side of life, needs to definately see this!

Cane Toads is a very unusual science documentary in that it is absiolutely hysterical (and also truly informative about the hazards of introduced species). The cast of characters--residents of Queensland Australia as well as scientists--is truly unique and very entertaining! I would highly recommend this video to a wide range of audiences, from kids with an interest in science to fans of Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. College-age Biology/Ecology students will love it--a fabulous study break, or a treat in class on the day before break!

This is the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. My entire family was rolling on the floor laughing. Our favorite part has got to be the girl and her toad Dairy Queen. The background music is about loving toads and she's there making the fat thing dance. This is a must see.

Cane Toads - An Unnatural History, is often reviewed as a spoof. I mean, how can anything so silly be serious?!!

Unfortunately and tragically, the cane toad is a serious, serious invasive species in Australia. In fact, this month scientists published an analysis suggesting that cane toads are now spreading at a rate of 50 km/yr instead of the 10 km/yr rate decades ago. They demonstrated that cane toads in the newer populations have longer legs than those in the area originally colonized. Thus, cane toads are evolving to be even better colonizers than they were 50 years ago.

Serious? The Queensland Government takes this species seriously. They say, "Ugly and leathery-brown, the cane toad is one of Queensland's best-known feral animals. Originally introduced to control a beetle which feeds on sugarcane crops, the cane toad has thrived in Queensland's tropical and subtropical climate. It can now be found in much of Queensland and continues to spread into New South Wales and the Northern Territory. This pest's impact has been far-reaching, with the invasion of cane toads into Queensland thought to be an important factor in the decline of many native animals."

CSIRO, Australia's premer research center, is researching control methods. And check out "coqui frogs in Hawaii" to see the impacts of another invasive amphibian in Hawaii... and the coqui is only the size of a nickel! Alas, like the cane toad, the coqui also has it supporters.

So... the cane toad menace is real, the Cane Toads - An Unnatural History DVD is a humorous way of introducing a serious topic, and amphibian invasions elsewhere are serious.

Oh, and check out The Simpsons: Bart vs. Australia (season 6) for evidence that the writers of The Simpsons watched Cane Toads - An Unnatural History.

I laughed until I cried. Not since Monty Python have I enjoyed a video so much. It was informative, educational, and entertaining. While students may not get the British-style humor, the other teachers and I enjoyed it immensely. This is a must-see for environmentalists.

Loved it! These are real folks with real views on the Cane Toad problem. This is a great way to teach young impressionable minds the hazards of introducing a species to an environment where there are no predators! It demonstrates the reason why there is a lot of controversy over using other species to control for a pest species rather than just eliminating the pest using pesticides. I will show this video to my students when we do our predator-prey & population studies. This video is very informational without all the high-tech mumbo-jumbo and big vocabulary terms. They get their point across so well and they do it in a fun way. You be the judge. Check this one out today!