People just can't seem to get enough of the Australian town of Penguin. First reported five years ago in The Penguin Post (Vol 1 #2 Summer 1995), we feel that any town named Penguin deserves a little more expanded coverage than the skimpy report from years ago.

The village of Penguin, on the north coast of Tasmania, was aptly named after the indigenous fairy penguins who inhabited the area before the town was settled. The original penguin inhabitants soon moved on to quieter environs shortly after the noisy Europeans moved there in 1875, after seeing their beach front property values plummet (as the first Australian colonists were rumored to be convicts).

A century or so later, the name of the penguinless town was looking bogus, with no real penguins in sight, so Penguin Chamber of Commerce's president George Daniels came up with the idea to coax the little waddlers back by building a giant penguin statue, and cleaning up the area beaches. At a press conference, he announced, "What this town needs is a bloody big penguin," so the town commissioned Andrew "Beau" Bennie to build the giant ten foot penguin god made of bird wire (of course). He covered it with plaster and concrete in time for the town's centenary celebration in 1975.

Located in the town's main park near the beach, a proud Beau beamed, "I've never done anything like that before or since, but I'm really proud of that big bird." Apparently the "offering" had worked, as hundreds of the penguins have returned to Penguin's beaches, and now live in relative peace with the humans, although it pains them to see the pagan seagulls occasionally do their business on their giant penguin god.

These days everyone seems happy including the regional tourist authority, because penguin lovers from all over the world come to pay homage to the big bird. "The big penguin is an expression of the place, it establishes the town's identity," says Jenny Williams, of the Central Coast Tourism Authority. She added, "A lot of tourists like to have their picture taken beside the big penguin and the town's penguin shaped rubbish bins."

Penguin, Tasmania, step aside with your feeble ten-foot penguin tribute! Thanks to our intrepid correspondent John Dicker, The Penguin Post has brought penguin pride back to the USA by discovering the world's tallest penguin, which presently resides in beautiful Cut Bank, Montana. Cut Bank is a town of 1500 hearty residents that also boasts being the coldest spot in the Continental United States. At one time Cut Bank was a booming oil town, but the wells dried up about 30 years ago and most everyone moved away. It was then that a bunch of really cold people had to decide what to do with the remains of their little town. Enter our hero Ron Gustafson, a local businessman and civic leader who in 1989 decided that the answer was to build a giant 27-foot concrete penguin, in hopes of manufacturing a tourist attraction.

Our man-on-the-scene John Dicker recalls his impression as he gazed upon the imposing penguin for the first time. "While it's easy to laugh at one man's quest to resurrect a dying town by building a giant concrete bird, I could only feel awe and joy looking at the three-story flightless behemoth."

Originally, the giant penguin contained a built-in speaker system which greeted admirers with, "Welcome to Cut Bank, the coldest spot in the nation!" Sadly, the voice has been out of commission for a few years, leaving the Paul Bunyon of penguins mute. However, the sound system is currently being restored, and should be chatting up tourists and locals alike this coming spring. So if you're in the neighborhood, be sure to waddle on by. I'm sure going a thousand miles out of your way to visit the big penguin of Cut Bank, Montana will be well worth the detour.

If ever there was a reason for the continued vitality of the independent video store, this is it. Sitting on the "recommended counter at my local video store, beckoning me like the Summer Antarctic midnight sun over a colony of Emperor Penguins was the video box for "Cry of The Penguins", an obscure 30 year old British film originally titled, Mr. Forbush and the Penguins, based on a Graham Billings novel of the same name. Released in 1971, this romantic, coming of age movie featured a young, mod John Hurt, the beautiful Hailey Mills and a cast of thousands of Adelie penguins. Mr. Hurt played John Forbush, a kind of Austin Powers-esque brilliant biology grad student in swinging late sixties London.

Unfortunately, his wild ways don't impress his upper crust parents, professors or his romantic interest (Ms. Mills), who see him wasting his talent for science, intellect and time (pretty much in that order). At his wits end, he is offered by his University a take or leave it, six month solo stint researching penguins in Antarctica. After some soul searching, and with a lack of other options, he agrees to take the project, if only to impress his reluctant love interest, and that's when things really get interesting. At least 60% of the movie is Forbush alone in Antarctica with a colony of Adelies. Shot on location and beautifully photographed, there are no digital or computer enhanced effects here. The nature scenes are the real deal, and the actor and film maker were at the mercy of their thousands of penguin extras. In the end, this is a classic story of a man who learns about life, redemption and most importantly himself through his relationship with penguins. Who could ask for more! A must see. Two flippers up. Way up! (Available on Falcon Video through Penguin Place)