The Date: August 3
The Movie: Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988)
What Is It?: Mark
Lewis’s outrageous short documentary tells the wild tale of how a variety of
bulbous toads were set loose in Australia to control pest beetles in sugar cane
fields and ended up turning the ecosystem upside down. The various ways the
locals react to the amphibious menaces is the hilarious heart of the film,
though some get too cruel by several hops.
Why Today?: On
this day in 1935, cane toads are
first set loose in Australia.
