Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Highlights of Steve Irwin's Documentaries

Steve Irwin was best known for his wildlife documentary series "The Crocodile Hunter", which he hosted with his wife, Terri. While Irwin was best known for his love of crocodiles, he was also a champion of wildlife conservation and had a love for all kinds of wild animals, especially those on the verge of extinction.



While his tragic death after a freak accident, the result of the barb of a stingray piercing his chest while shooting a documentary in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, may have taken him away from the world too early, he has left behind a legacy in wildlife conservation that will not soon be forgotten. His image will be forever immortalised by the many documentaries that he brought to the world to not only make people aware of how special crocodiles and other forms of wildlife are to our world, but also to help educate people and help them to understand more about these amazing creatures.



TV show "The Crocodile Hunte r" was produced from 1997 to 2004 and became a popular series due to Steve's wacky antics and his interaction with various creatures. The documentaries have been aired on Animal Planet as well as run worldwide in syndication on various networks. It was so successful that even those who did not recognise the name Steve Irwin would know exactly who you were talking about just by mentioning that "Crocodile Hunter" guy. The success of "The Crocodile Hunter" was so overwhelming that the series spawned two spin-offs, "The Crocodile Hunter Diaries" and "Croc Files".



"The Crocodile Hunter Diaries" aired from 2002-2006 and was more focused on the everyday life of Steve and wife Terri and the employees of the Australia Zoo, which was founded by Irwin's parents before Steve and Terri became co-owners and operators. Filming began in 1998 and covered the birth of their first child, Bindi Sue, the support of various breeding efforts of some animals in the zoo by shuff ling them around to make mating more conducive, and an employee being almost fatally attacked by a venomous snake, among many other experiences the couple and their employees had at the zoo. Production of the series ended with Steve's untimely death.



"The Croc Files" aired from the middle of 1999 to the beginning of 2001. This documentary series was specifically focused on crocodiles and can still be seen on the Discovery Kids network.



In 2002, the Irwin's starred in their first feature movie based on the "Crocodile Hunter" documentary series entitled "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course". It is a comedy-adventure film in which Steve and Terri play themselves while filming an episode of "The Crocodile Hunter" and trying to protect a crocodile. While the movie did receive mixed reviews, it grossed over $33 million worldwide.



Steve also appeared as himself on an episode of the Discovery Kids program "Mystery Hu nters" in 2002, and had a cameo role in the 2001 movie "Dr. Dolittle 2". In 2006 Irwin was the voice of Trev in the movie "Happy Feet".

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