"A dingo ate my baby" is a phrase attributed to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and also to Meryl Streep's depiction of Chamberlain in the movie A Cry in the Dark (1988) â€" also known as Evil Angels â€" about the death of Azaria Chamberlain, an Australian baby girl who died in 1980 at Uluru in the Northern Territory. The Chamberlain family had been holidaying at Uluru when their daughter was taken from their tent by a dingo. The authorities disbelieved the family's story about a dingo, and prosecuted and won convictions against Lindy Chamberlain for murder and against her then-husband Michael Chamberlain as an accessory after the fact. Ultimately, the courts found both parents innocent after being sent to court 3 different times, and the coroner found Azaria's death was "the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo".
The phrase "A dingo ate my baby" was not actually used by Chamberlain, nor is it used in the film. Chamberlain is reported to have called out to her husband, "a dingo took my baby", or either "That dog's got my baby" or "My God, My God, a dingo has got my baby." In the film, Streep's character, upon discovering her daughter missing, cries out, "A dingo's got my baby."
In popular culture
- In "The Stranded" episode of Seinfeld (Season 3, Episode 10), Elaine does a mock Australian accent and exclaims "Maybe the dingo ate your baby!"
- Dingoes Ate My Baby is the name of a fictional band in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- In The Simpsons episode "Bart vs Australia" (Season 6, Episode 16) Bart says to an Australian farmer "Hey! I think I hear a dingo eating your baby!"
- In "Those Big Pink Things with Coconut" episode of Two and a Half Men (Season 2, Episode 14), Charlie says to Alan "Does the dingo feel sorry for the slow-crawling Australian baby?", and also Charlie refer to his mother and says; "And the dingo found another Australian baby?"
- In The Simpsons episode "Lisa Gets an A" (Season 10, Episode 7) While home from school due to illness, Lisa plays the "Dashed Dingo" video game in which the main character is a dingo. As the game begins, the dingo is instructed by a large, floating Australian head that he must "find and devour the seven crystal babies".
- In "Flour Child", an episode of Frasier (Season 2, Episode 4), Eddie is attacking a bag of flour that Niles is using to simulate an infant. Daphne puts on an Australian accent and exclaims "That dingo's got your baby!"
- In the "Mystery Spot" episode of Supernatural (Season 3, Episode 11), Dean refers to what Sam is saying as "Dingo-ate-my-baby crazy."
- In the "Good Queen Fun" episode of Project Runway (Season 5, Episode 6), guest judge RuPaul responded "Oh, did a dingo eat your baby, mate?" to contestant Keith Bryce after Bryce apparently took offense to critique from the rest of the judging panel.
- In the "Mother Tucker" episode of Family Guy (season 5, episode 2), Brian and Stewie host a radio show named "Dingo and the Baby".
- Modern Family's episode "Australia" references this joke when Claire's computer, previously being used for a project referenced as her "baby", is nabbed from a tent by a wild dog.
- In the Hot in Cleveland episode titled "That Changes Everything," when Joy's grandchild goes missing, Regis Philbin's character says "Maybe a Dingo ate it."
- In the Psych episode titled "The Old and Restless," Shawn tries to get into a retirement home by saying, "Dingo ate my baby."
- In The Rugrats Movie, a news reporter on the scene of the Pickles' house asks Didi: "Is it true that a dingo ate your baby?"
- In "Product Recall" episode of The Office (Season 3, Episode 20), Kevin makes a few Australian stereotypes in an Australian accent, including "Alligators and dingo babies."
- In season three episode five of The Tick, titled "Devil in Diapers", Mr. Mental, disguised as a baby and being cared for by The Tick, is attacked by government agents disguised as dingoes. For a moment a newspaper can be seen with a picture of The Tick and the headline "dingoes stole my baby!"
- In the 2008 comedy film Tropic Thunder, character Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) says: "I'm sorry a dingo ate your baby." during an argument with the Australian character Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.).
- Pro-wrestler Chris Jericho on WWE Raw. March 18th 2013. He offered his various mocking pronunciations of rival Fandango, which included in an Australian accent - "Fan-Dingo ate my Baby-O!"
- During the "Barry Gibb Talk Show VI" sketch on Saturday Night Live (Season 39, Episode 10), Jimmy Fallon (as Barry Gibb) takes offense to a guest's actions and goes on a usual hubristic rant, with one of his hyperbolic claims to importance being "My baby ate a dingo!"
- In the episode “Grandpa†of the show High Maintenance after Gatsby the dog jumps on The Guy he says “that dingo better not eat no baby†to Beth. Beth (played by the Australian Yael Stone) replies “that’s not even funny. It’s a real thing.†When The Guy tries to excuse himself since he hasn’t seen the movie Beth soberly replies “it’s real people’s livesâ€.
- During the January 8, 2017 Drew & Mike Podcast, hosts Drew Lane and Marc Fellhauer discuss Meryl Streep's delivery of the line in the movie A Cry in the Dark.
References
Further reading
- The Story Behind "The Dingo Ate My Baby" (audio)
