Croc! Pop culture accessibility tourCroc! Pop culture accessibility tour 

Croc! Lost Giants to Living Legends, Pop culture audio description and transcript includes:

• Popular crocs
• Toothy toys
• Croc stars
• Croc pop art

Part 2 includes:

• That's a knife
• Illegal crocs
• Designer crocs
• Lacoste
• Crocs 

Part 3 includes:

• Go crocs!
• Crikey croc

You are moving into a new section. The text panel on the wall gives context for this section. It reads:

POPULAR CROCS

Our pop culture is packed with crocs.

As both heroes and villains, they’re on our screens and our bookshelves, in our toy cupboards and our locker rooms.

We wear them, read them, watch them and play with them.

They’re an inspiration.

Who’s your favourite famous croc?

 

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

In the centre of the room is an assemblage, made up of different-sized plinths that look like boxes stacked on top of each other. Each column of boxes is stacked to a different height, and they are all joined together to make a display approximately 2 cubic metres in size.

On the top of each plinth in the first assemblage are croc-inspired pop-culture objects, ranging from large to tiny. Some objects on display include:

• crocodile made of Lego, about 30 cm long
• a Lego Wildlife Rescue minifigure crocodile egg: less than a centimetre in height and diameter
• crocodile plush toys, puppets, wind-up toy crocs, and croc ‘rubber ducky’
• children’s books that feature a crocodile protagonist
• a Steve Irwin Pop Vinyl figurine feeding a croc figurine
• a croc Transformers toy, and
• a ‘Crocodile Dentist’ toy.

(TOOTHY TOYS)

A text panel on the wall gives context to the first assemblage display. It reads:

TOOTHY TOYS

Do you have a toy crocodile?

We have been playing with them for a long time. Archaeologists in Egypt found clay croc toys that were 4,000 years old.

Traditionally crocodiles have represented the devil or the villain, but are now often cute and cuddly.

Research by zoologist Vladimir Dinets shows that crocodiles like to play with toys too.

Zoos often give them balls for amusement, but they’ve also been seen playing with floating blossoms. Apparently they like the pink ones.

(CROC STARS)

A text panel gives context to the movie posters, props and memorabilia in this section. It reads:

CROC STARS

Crocs on screen seem to either sing to us or scare us.

But from Lyle to Dundee, Lake Placid to Black Water, crocs are blockbuster movie stars.

They have a wide repertoire, spanning kids’ films to horrors, even romantic comedies. (Some are better than others!)

A text panel reads:

CROC POP ART

Franck Gohier is an Australian painter, sculptor and printmaker based in Darwin. Since the 1980s, he has used satire, humour and pop culture imagery to explore social and cultural issues, reimagining the bold visuals of vintage comic books and retro advertising to tell deeply personal stories.

He also founded Red Hand Prints, an open-access printmaking studio that offered free tuition to Darwin locals, and professional printmaking services to numerous Indigenous communities.

Much of Franck’s work draws inspiration from the people, events, frontier mentality (and crocodiles) of the Northern Territory. He blends autobiography with social critique and explores how identity is shaped by place.

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Mounted high on the wall are three pop-art style printworks by Franck Gohier and his social enterprise Red Hand Prints. One of these prints is titled BOXING CROC, featuring the boxing croc statue in Humpty Doo, and promotes Red Hand Prints.

(THAT’S A KNIFE)

The opposite side of the first assemblage is decorated with an enlarged image of the CROCODILE DUNDEE film poster. Encased on the nearby plinths are props from the film, including a replica of Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee’s bowie knife. The object label next to it reads: “That’s a knife”.

In a recess located near the Crocodile Dundee poster is a real croc foot, used as a bookend and mounted on a wooden plaque. In a recess beneath this croc foot is a touchable 3D-printed version of this croc foot. The object label reads:

Something's afoot!

This croc foot is now a bookend.

We’ve created a copy you can touch.

Feel the webbing between its toes.

(ILLEGAL CROCS)

A text panel on the wall gives context for the display. It reads:

ILLEGAL CROCS

It is illegal to bring croc items into Australia without a permit. They break international laws that help protect wildlife, and will be confiscated.

CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) lists about 5,600 species of animals, including all crocodiles. In 1992, it created a universal tagging system for crocodilian skins that has reduced illegal trade.

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

On display nearby on the second assemblage of plinths are some crocodile skin objects that tourists purchased overseas and have attempted to bring into Australia, including:

• handbags and wallets
• a hatchling foot keyring
• letter openers with caiman hatchling heads as handles, and
• a mobile phone case.

Objects such as these are seized by the Australian Border Force.

(DESIGNER CROCS)

A text panel on the wall gives context for the display. It reads:

DESIGNER CROCS

The sense of danger and the intricate and unusual textures of crocodile skin mean it has long been associated with luxury and high-end fashion.

Beyond the leather, crocodiles themselves also serve as brand identities for fashion labels. Two brands stand out: Lacoste and Crocs.

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Displayed on plinths nearby are Lacoste sneakers - white with green trim. There is also a fashion magazine advertisement for Lacoste, featuring a blonde model wearing a tight white polo shirt next to the caption “Unconventional Chic” and the Lacoste crocodile logo. An info-sign nearby reads:

LACOSTE

Started in 1933 by French tennis star René Lacoste. He invented the polo shirt to allow tennis players to move more freely: they all used to wear long sleeves.

Famous for: Polo shirts.

Why crocs? His coach offered to buy René the crocodile-skin suitcase he’d admired if he won his next match. He lost, but the American press still nicknamed him ‘The Alligator’. Rene embraced it, embroidering crocodiles on his jackets and using them as his logo when he started his company. His was the first brand to feature a logo on its clothing.

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Displayed on a plinth is a child-sized pair of green and white blotchy-patterned foam-rubber ‘Crocs’ brand sandals, with large ventilation holes along the toe of the shoe and wide dark-green foam ankle strap.

An info-sign nearby reads:

CROCS

First made in 2002 as boat shoes by three friends from Colorado, USA. All Crocs shoes are made from the company’s proprietary closed-cell resin, Croslite. In 2010 TIME magazine named them one of the worst 50 inventions. But their appearance at London Fashion Week in 2016 started their rise to fashion phenomenon.

Famous for: Shoes you either love or hate.

Why crocs? Because they’re designed to perform on both land and sea.

(GO CROCS!)

A text panel on the wall gives context for the display. It reads:

GO CROCS!

Crocodilians are fast, strong and deadly - a natural fit for a sports team.

In Australia, crocs front basketball, rugby and Aussie rules teams.

Overseas are the Florida Gators American footballers, lots of swim teams, football teams and the Miami Caiman e-sports team.

There’s even a German ice hockey team, though crocodiles aren’t really associated with ice… or Germany!

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Displayed on plinths nearby is a collection of sporting memorabilia featuring croc mascots - such as a Florida Gators cap, and mini-helmet, and Crocodiles mascot plush toy.

(CRIKEY CROC)

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Mounted high on the wall, is a 1-metre-long and 40-cm-wide latex crocodile head that was used in the 2002 movie featuring Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

A text panel beneath the croc head reads:

CRIKEY CROC

This latex crocodile head was made by Queensland-based prop maker Adam Head for the 2002 film THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE, starring Steve and Terri Irwin.

The movie pits Irwin against rogue CIA agents sent to track a crocodile that has ingested a top-secret weapon. It uses the unique blend of education, adventure, entertainment and activism the Crocodile Hunter is known for.

DESCRIPTION OF DISPLAY:

Beneath the text panel is a small reproduction of THE CROCODILE HUNTER: COLLISION COURSE film poster designed by Drew Struzan and featuring an illustration of a croc smashing through a tinnie, as Steve & Terri Irwin cling to its sides, pursued by helicopters. The heading reads: CRIKEY! and a tagline below reads: THIS SUMMER CROCS RULE.