Even a violent death fails to silence the crocodile hunter
Bernard Lagan in Sydney
He was said to be larger than life. He may become even bigger in death.
Despite television publicists heralding last night’s Steve Irwin Tribute on the Animal Planet channel as the Australian adventurer’s finale — because it included film from the September expedition on which a stingray killed him — brand Irwin is far from extinguished.
However, there is unease at the screen career of Irwin’s eight-year-old daughter Bindi who, at her father’s memorial service, pledged to continue his work. While there is no question that she willingly takes part in promoting her father’s legacy, there is concern that it will prove to be at her cost.
According to John Stainton, Irwin’s long-time business partner and producer of his many films, at least two more wildlife documentaries, using previously unseen film of the adventurer, will be completed within the next year.
“We’ve shot thousands and thousands of hours,” he told The Times from Los Angeles yesterday. “We never stopped filming. In all the years we worked together, we filmed just about everything we ever did.”
Irwin remains a compelling character. He went from trapping crocodiles for free in the 1980s to snaring a place on Australia’s list of highest-paid entertainers, with earnings of more than A$4 million (£1.6 million) a year. He owned a A$3.2 million waterfront home and he bought huge tracts of land — one purchase covered 32,000 acres — which he set aside as natural habitat for animals.
Inevitably, the US Animal Planet channel — owned by Discovery — was never going to let Irwin slide from the screen after his death. The channel funded many of his television shows, some of which made huge profits.
As well as the two documentaries, there will be new shows and documentary series featuring Irwin’s American-born widow, Terri, and his daughter. “We have a fairly heavy slate of production, apart from the material we have done with Steve,” Mr Stainton said.
“We will be developing new material for Terri. In the last three or four months she has attracted a quite large following of supporters.”
But there is increasing unease in Australia at the involvement of Irwin’s daughter. Dr Kerry Hempenstall, a psychologist from the RMIT University in Melbourne, said that Bindi, who is home-schooled, was at risk of becoming a casualty of childhood stardom. A website created by a Melbourne woman, www.savebindi.com, has also campaigned to stop the “exploitation” of Bindi. The website pleads with Mrs Irwin and those managing Irwin’s legacy, to “please just let Bindi be a kid first”.
The 26-episode television series that Bindi began shooting with her father — and completed after his death — Bindi, the Jungle Girl, is expected to begin sceening in the US this year. She has also completed a series of appearances in the US as an ambassador for Australian tourism.
Those close to Bindi, including Mr Stainton, reject any suggestion that she has been coerced into advancing the Irwin brand. “No one will push Bindi to do anything she doesn’t want to and that’s a credit to her mum,” he said.