Animal Kingdom (2016), the most recent crime thriller to hitch the Netflix lineup, could have probably the most terrifying fictional households within the Codys. Nonetheless, the real-life household that impressed the hit sequence makes the fictional one seem to be a stroll within the park. The Pettingills, an Australian crime household, impressed the hit TNT crime sequence, which follows Joshua “J” Cody (Finn Cole) as he strikes in with estranged relations following the lack of his mom. He realizes that his grandmother, Janine “Smurf” Cody (Ellen Barkin), funds the lavish way of life of his kin by her legal dealings. Joshua has no different alternative however to take part within the legal enterprise to outlive the wild, harmful world that has engulfed him.
Animal Kingdom first premiered in 2016 on TNT and wrapped in 2022, however now it is discovered a house on Netflix, and extra viewers are discovering the crime thriller almost a decade after it premiered. The TV sequence was tailored from the 2010 movie of the identical title, directed by David Michôd, and shares a premise that takes viewers on a journey the place loyalty is examined and violence threatens the household.
The Pettingill household ranks amongst Melbourne, Australia’s most infamous and risky households. Matriarch Kathleen Pettingill headed the household, and their underworld crimes included armed robberies, arms dealing, and drug trafficking. To say they wreaked havoc in Australia is an understatement. They operated for a number of many years, and so they weren’t against resorting to homicide to get issues completed. Roughly 20 years later, their affect and energy have waned, however they continue to be a logo of a violent time in Australian historical past, and the fascination with probably the most infamous legal households continues. The hit sequence stars Cole, Barkin, Molly Gordon, Ben Robson, Shawn Hatosy, Jake Weary, Scott Speedman, and extra.
The Actual-Life Legal Household, The Pettingills, Impressed the Fictional Household, The Codys, in ‘Animal Kingdom’
Animal Kingdom
- Launch Date
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2016 – 2021
- Community
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NBC
- Showrunner
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Jonathan Lisco
Regardless of being a fictional work, Animal Kingdom is loosely based mostly on real-life occasions and folks. The Pettingill group was headed by Kathleen Pettingill, probably the most ruthless and feared matriarchs in Australian historical past. She was a former brothel proprietor, however she grew to become rather more influential as she spearheaded the household’s dealings within the legal underworld and was a key determine in sustaining the household’s affect in organized crime. Pettingill had 10 kids, together with Dennis Allen, Peter Allen, Vicki Brooks, Victor Peirce, Lex Peirce, Jamie Pettingill, and Trevor Pettingill, all of whom had been concerned in legal actions like drug trafficking, homicide, armed theft, and extra. Her kids are both lifeless, incarcerated, in witness safety, or just chorus from any public life.
Regardless of being an influential determine and matriarch for the household, she wasn’t the “mastermind” in actual life. Within the TNT sequence, Janine “Smurf” (Barkin), who’s loosely based mostly on Kathleen, is given a extra controlling and “in cost” position inside the household than Pettingill had. Smurf was in command of the legal actions that her kids had been committing within the sequence. Whereas Kathleen did not have a ultimate say on what her kids did, she was primarily centered on drug trafficking and prostitution.
In the course of the household’s lively involvement in organized crime, Kathleen slowly started to disengage from the legal underworld, however she was nonetheless thought to be the top of the Pettingill household. Their legal roots modified the course of Australian historical past, and so they had a crucial impression on organized crime, a lot in order that they’re included in true-crime books, documentaries, and as some extent of reference when discussing the legal underworld, police corruption, and the systemic failure of the regulation the place gang violence is anxious.
How Does ‘Animal Kingdom’ Differ From and Resemble the Pettingills?
Though the sequence is a fictionalized and dramatized telling of the particular occasions that occurred and due to this fact differs from them, there are nonetheless similarities between the Codys and the Pettingills. The primary apparent similarity is between Smurf and Kathleen, as each the real-life determine and the fictional character are key figures because the matriarchs of their respective households. One other clear parallel lies between the Cody sons and the Pettingill brothers. Dennis, Victor, and Trevor had been all concerned in nefarious exercise like homicide, armed theft, and drug trafficking.
Within the sequence, Baz Blackwell (Speedman), Andrew “Pope” Cody (Hatosy), Deran Cody (Weary), and Craig Cody (Robson) mirror the identical dynamic and harmful habits of the Pettingill boys. Neither household trusted outsiders, maintaining their enterprise inside the household and counting on worry to implement loyalty.
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The distinction between the crime thriller and the Pettingills is the setting from which the household operates. The Pettingills operated from Melbourne, Australia, between the Nineteen Seventies and Nineties. In Animal Kingdom, the Codys function in Southern California, modernizing the story and exploring the context from an American lens. The legal exercise additionally differed from the real-life workings of the Pettingill group.
The Codys had been primarily keen on heists, turf wars, and cash laundering, whereas the Pettingills had been closely keen on drug trafficking, prostitution, homicide, and armed robberies. For these acquainted with the infamous household, the Walsh Avenue Police Killings of 1988, by which two cops had been lured into an ambush and murdered, allegedly by Victor and Trevor, wasn’t tailored or talked about within the 2016 sequence. Nonetheless, the 2010 movie, directed by David Michôd, made its personal dramatized model of the tragic occasion.
The place Is the Pettingill Household Now?
A life within the legal underworld comes with a excessive worth and inevitable penalties. As of 2025, the Pettingill household’s energy and affect in organized crime have diminished. Kathleen, the matriarch, remains to be alive and is believed to be dwelling in Australia in her 90s. Dennis Allen, also called Mr. Demise for his violent nature, died in 1987 of drug-related coronary heart failure whereas in custody. Victor Peirce was murdered in 2002, and Trevor Pettingill remains to be alive at present, however has been out and in of jail for assault, drug possession, and theft. The opposite Pettingill relations are both in witness safety, main quiet lives, or have been arrested over time for lesser offenses. The title Pettingill, nonetheless, nonetheless carries notoriety within the legal underworld and Australian historical past. You may stream Animal Kingdom on Netflix.