Story: Introduced land birds

Movietone news kookaburra

Those New Zealanders who never heard a kookaburra in the wild became very familiar with its laughing call because it introduced the Australian Movietone newsreels. These news packages were common as shorts in New Zealand cinemas, especially in the 1940s and 1950s. They were produced by Fox International Movietone News in Australia from 1929 to 1975.

Using this item

Cinesound Movietone Productions

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Christina Troup, 'Introduced land birds - Kookaburras', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/26150/movietone-news-kookaburra (accessed 24 April 2024)

Story by Christina Troup, published 24 Nov 2008, reviewed & revised 17 Feb 2015