Seen on Masterpiece Theater and the Disney Channel
In the Australian outback, a father and daughter find the meaning of family
In Australian slang, "shiralee" means "burden." It also describes how itinerant laborer "Mac" Macauley (Bryan Brown, Gorillas in the Mist, Cocktail) thinks of his nine-year-old daughter, Buster (Rebecca Smart, Blackrock). Proud and stubborn, Mac ekes out a living-sometimes with his fists-on the dusty roads of the 1940s and '50s outback, with Buster in tow. Together they befriend a number of colorful characters, and Lily (Noni Hazlehurst, Little Fish), a lovely rancher as maddeningly willful as Mac. At times grudgingly, Mac and Buster forge a father-daughter bond that hunger and hardship cannot break.
Based on D'Arcy Niland's international bestseller, The Shiralee captures the wry humor and rugged independence of the Australian frontier, as well as the tenderness at the heart of a most unusual family.
Disc 1
Landing a job on a ranch in southern Australia, swagman "Mac" Macauley falls hard for his boss's daughter, Lily. But a wealthy rival conspires to have him run out of town. Mac finds work as a carnival boxer and weds fellow worker Marge, more out of despair over his lost Lily than out of love. When their marriage eventually sours, Mac hits the road again, taking their reluctant daughter, Buster, along for the journey.
Disc 2
Buster's increasingly serious illness forces Mac to swallow his pride and go to work for the one person who will have him - Lily. After nursing Buster back to health, Mac turns vagabond once again, with Buster weighing him down more heavily than ever. But when he faces the prospect of losing his daughter either to death or to the vengeful Marge, Mac is forced to make the most difficult decision of his life.
Acorn Media presents the North American 2-DVD release of The Shiralee, coming home in the USA ($39.99 SRP) and Canada (CA$46.99 SRP) on March 10th. Running time is 190 minutes. Video is full screen, audio is English stereo. Here's a look at the package art for this set:
  
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