So I finally checked out
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History. It's alright. Worth watching. Not as hysterical as I expected, however the Cane Toad is a fascinating creature and this documentary is a substantial course in Cane Toad.
Gist: Cane Toads are originally from Hawaii. In the 1930's, sugar cane farmers in Australia were losing entire crops to beetles. Some "expert" at a conference in Puerto Rico asserted that Cane Toads were the best measure of prevention against said beetle. So one guy halled a boat-load over to Aussie and started spawing them in his pond. Long story short, the Cane Toad had no natural predators in Australia, adapted beautifully to the climate, and reproduced with an alarming survival ratio. So alarming it's uncanny and the documentary speculates that this may be one of the most robust creatures on the continent.
I found the most fascinating part of this doc to be how humans react emotionally to the toads. The creature is either loved or adored. Some residents of the northern coast–where the toads live–take civic pride in having them around and consider Cane Toads to be a tourist attraction. Then there are the loathers who often speak of destroying every Cane Toad they have the opportunity to come across. One long shot is composed of a van–driven by a scientist–swerving back and forth down a stretch of country road picking off Cane Toads under his driver side tire.
All in all, this documentary is chuckling at a hideous creature and the rural residents who love it. So it has the patronizing flavor of big city filmmakers poking fun at a small town subject. I think in the past twenty years since
Cane Toads was made, audiences have become more sophisticated in recognizing objective story telling. For the most part, we expect less judgement and more responsibility from a documentary filmmaker and, in that way, this documentary is a dated disappointment.