Crocodile Dundee Turns 40: The Real Man Behind Mick Survived 56 Days in the Outback, Then Died in a Shootout With Police

40 years ago, on September 26, 1986, a small Australian comedy topped the US box office for 9 straight weeks (after Paramount had picked up the rights for just $6 million). While we all have fond memories of the Mick Dundee in Crocodile Dundee, the real bushman who inspired the film lived a darker story: 56 days lost in the Northern Territory, a barefoot appearance on national TV, and a death in a roadside shootout with police in 1999.

The 1980s marked a golden era for many genres, both creatively and financially, and one of them was fish-out-of-water comedies, a familiar narrative trope that’s already found its way to the cinema as early as the silent film era, notably Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush in 1925. And while the trope continued to excel in notable genre classics from Some Like It Hot (1959) to Being There (1979), it wasn’t until the ’80s that it became a major box-office draw. Early hits in that decade, such as Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop, were among them, and the mid-80s saw the likes of Back to the Future and Crocodile Dundee dominate the box office.

How Crocodile Dundee became the highest-grossing Australian movie ever

The latter originally made its theatrical debut in Australia in April 1986, and went on to gross A$47.7 million – an impressive domestic record that’s not only eclipsed the Kirk Douglas-starred 1982 Western drama The Man from Snowy River, but also remained the undisputed top earner.

By the time Crocodile Dundee finally crossed over stateside in September the same year, after Paramount Pictures bought the US distribution rights for $6 million, the movie made such a significant impact at the box office that it held the No. 1 spot for nine consecutive weeks before Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home overtook the movie during the Thanksgiving weekend in November. Crocodile Dundee ended up chomping $174.8 million in the US alone, totalling over $328 million worldwide on a tiny A$8.8 million budget.

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Is Crocodile Dundee based on a true story? Meet Rod Ansell

Directed by Peter Faiman, the movie was his feature-length debut after spending over a decade producing and helming television specials, movies and series, including The Paul Hogan Show. The popular Australian sketch comedy, which ran for 11 years between 1973 and 1984, saw Faiman and Paul Hogan form a successful creative partnership before transitioning into their film debuts.

Interestingly, Crocodile Dundee’s fish-out-of-water story idea was inspired by Rod Ansell’s real-life exploits, particularly a pivotal May 1977 incident when he went on a fishing trip on the Victoria River in the Northern Territory, before ending up with his boat capsized by “something big” (Ansell later claimed it was a whale). Ansell, who also brought his two puppies, somehow survived the capsizing.

What followed was a treacherous 56-day ordeal of survival after floating away to sea and finding himself on an island at the mouth of the Fitzmaurice River. He relied on canned food and would use his rifle to kill wild cattle and hydrate himself by drinking their blood. He even found honey by following the bees to the hives, and deliberately slept on a tree fork with his canines for safety. Two Aboriginal stockmen and their cattle manager, Luke McCall, then discovered and rescued Ansell.

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The news made such a headline about Ansell’s story, even turning him into a celebrity. He also wrote a book called To Fight the Wild and starred in a documentary film. At one point, a British journalist named Michael Parkinson interviewed Ansell in 1981 on television in Sydney, which required the latter to fly over and stay at the legendary Sebel Townhouse Hotel.

He would sleep on the floor in his bush bed-roll rather than the more comfortable hotel bed, which later became Hogan’s idea for his Mick Dundee character as a bushman arriving in the big city for the first time in the movie. Despite Crocodile Dundee’s huge global success, Ansell’s life should have been more prosperous by then.

But unfortunately, he wasn’t financially compensated, and his later life ended with a shocking tragedy after the 44-year-old Ansell fatally shot Sergeant Glen Huitson in an ambush at the roadblock on the Stuart Highway. Constable Jim O’Brien returned fire, killing Ansell in the gun battle that followed, and a later coroner’s inquest found that he was high on amphetamines.

“That’s not a knife”: Crocodile Dundee’s iconic scene, awards, and sequels

Ansell’s tragic news felt surreal compared to the more feel-good nature of the movie that combined the fish-out-of-water comedy, adventure, and rom-com revolving around Hogan’s Dundee and Linda Kozlowski’s Sue Charlton. The latter played the New York-based feature journalist, who travelled to the small Northern Territory town to interview the bushman himself. The first hour was structured like a romantic adventure, effectively establishing the contrasting dynamic between the ruggedly nonchalant Mick and the ambitious yet independent Sue before they eventually warmed up to each other.

Then came the second half, as Faiman pivoted his movie into a comedy of culture clashes after Sue brought Mick to New York City, resulting in some of the funniest moments, like how the bushman understood the purpose of a bidet in his hotel bathroom and, of course, the famous scene where he casually defuses a threat by pulling out his large Bowie knife in front of the muggers, complete with Hogan’s memorable “That’s not a knife… That’s a knife” line.

Crocodile Dundee wasn’t only a big hit, but also received several accolades, notably an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and a Best Actor win for Paul Hogan at the Golden Globe Awards. The success spawned a financially successful 1988 sequel, Crocodile Dundee II, despite grossing less than the first movie, and the lackluster Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles in 2001, marking the third and final film in the franchise.

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Earlier this month, Film at Lincoln Center in New York marked the milestone with a 40th anniversary screening of the film in 35mm on September 8, 2026.

Crocodile Dundee is available for rent or purchase via Apple TV and Prime Video.