Like A Photon Creative (LAPC) in partnership with Screen Queensland has announced the voice cast of Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back. The tech-themed sequel sees the return of key characters from the 3D CG ‘Aussie-mation’ as well as the debut of some new additions.
AACTA Award winner Deborah Mailman (Total Control, Scarygirl) and young AACTA- and Critics Choice Award-nominated actor Ed Oxenbould (Wildlife, Julian) return to save Sanctuary City from a new threat as the voices of lead character and superhero aficionado Maggie and her side-kick Sweetie, respectively.
Joining the film, acclaimed Australian actor David Wenham (Elvis, The Lord of the Rings, Peter Rabbit films, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole) will voice new character and secret super-villain Lenny, Elizabeth Cullen (The Bureau of Magical Things, Bali 2002, Elvis) joins as Skylar, Mark Coles Smith (Last Cab to Darwin, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Occupation: Rainfall, Savage River, Sweet As) as Reginald, Dan Brumm takes a break from Uncle Stripe on Bluey to voice Chief Furbank, and Grant Denyer returns to The Tales from Sanctuary City franchise as Grant Quokka (Daisy Quokka: World’s Scariest Animal).
Synopsis: Following on from her heroic debut as Sanctuary City’s onesie-wearing caped crusader, Maggie Diggins (Mailman) and trusty Sugar Glider sidekick Sweetie (Oxenbould), are faced with a new threat to Sanctuary City.
One year on from the events of the first film, the crime fighting pair are rewarded for their heroism with a statue in the town square, along with an app that allows local citizens to call on the duo for any problem, great or small, anytime.
Whilst created with the very best of intentions, citizens begin taking advantage of the app, requesting help to carry out the most basic of tasks. Without any real ‘superhero work’ to stay busy with, Maggie is on the verge of giving up on the superhero game altogether.
Enter tech genius/entrepreneur Lenny Glick (Wenham), the founder of local tech company Chamele Online and his new exciting immersive platform. Whilst this tech takes the citizens of Sanctuary city by storm, mysterious crimes start being committed by an unlikely bunch of senior citizens. Combat Wombat, Gallant Glider, and their new friends are thrown into investigating why the elderly are suddenly so unruly leaving Lenny to enact his secret plan to permanently transport the entire city into a digital simulation, Sanctuary +.
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back marks the sequel to the 2020 film Combat Wombat, the second film in The Tales from Sanctuary City animated film franchise, created by Australia’s only female-led animation studio, Like A Photon Creative.
The film is directed by Ricard Cussó (Combat Wombat, Daisy Quokka, Scarygirl) and Tania Vincent (Scarygirl, Smiling Mind Creek) from a script by Dominic Morris, produced by Ryan Greaves, Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates. Lead animator Rebecca O’Brien previously worked on Disney Television Animation’s Monsters at Work, Elena of Avalor and Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.
Supported by financial partners Alceon Entertainment and through Screen Queensland’s Screen Finance investment, Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back is distributed globally by Sola Media, excluding Australia, New Zealand and Latin America. Sola Media announced in February, ahead of EFM, that it had acquired international distribution rights to the next three Sanctuary City films, which also covers untitled adventures centered on a sloth family with a hyper-active daughter and a tiger who believes he is the last of his kind.
Combat Wombat: Back 2 Back will be released by Universal Pictures in Australia in Spring 2024.
