Marco Polo Jnr Versus The Red Dragon

1972, 80 Minutes

Australia's first animated feature film.

Young fisherman Marco Polo Junior discovers that he is the seventh son of the seventh son of the ancient explorer Marco Polo. His grandfather gives him half a gold medallion that was presented to his ancestor by the great Kubla Khan, with the other half held by the heir to the Kingdom of Xanadu. Evil Emperor, The Red Dragon controls the kingdom. He has imprisoned the rightful heir Princess Shining Moon and now seeks to destroy young Marco.

The voice over cast is headed by American pop singer Bobby Rydell as Marco Polo, while the evil Red Dragon is brilliantly voiced by Australian actor Kev Golsby. Over 100 animators and artists worked for two years on this production, Australia’s first animated feature film.

Winner, Gold Award, AFI Awards, 1973. Winner, Best Direction, AFI Awards, 1973.

Distributed by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

(201570800)

Director: Eric Porter. From making animations as an adolescent, director Eric Porter built his film production studio to become Australia’s largest. Eric Porter also produced and directed the 1946 feature film A Son is Born, starring Peter Finch and Muriel Steinbeck.

Featured People: Bobby Rydell, Corie Sims, Kevin Golsby, Arnold Stang

Year: 1972

Running Time: 80 Minutes

Classification: G

Curriculum Links: Animation and Cartooning; Film, Cinema and Screen Studies; Visual Arts.