LONDON, England (CNN) -- "Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger" is the latest comic creation to emerge from the Australian film market.



Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terence Stamp star in the camp classic "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."



An unabashed celebration of girlishness, the coming-of-age movie tells the story of Esther, a   bespectacled and awkward teen. Looked down on as nerd at her posh private school, Esther (played by newcomer Danielle Catanzariti) reinvents herself after befriending Sunni, an older girl who goes to the local public school.



Bearing a passing resemblance to the runaway U.S. indie hit "Juno", "Esther Blueburger" could well go on to imitate some of the worldwide success of its hipper American cousin.



If the film is to do well, its kitschness can surely only work to its advantage.



After all, many of the Australian comedies that have found success with an international audience have relied on more than just a smattering of camp.



Oddly, from a country that brought the world "Mad Max" and Russell Crowe, many of the biggest comic hits fly in the face of the conventional stereotypes of Australian culture as straight-talking and macho.



For every "Crocodile Dundee", in other words, there is a "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", riding triumphantly over the horizon ready to unsettle the manhood and steal the laughs into the bargain.



It was Paul Hogan's comic creation Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, the laidback survivalist from the outback that first put Australian comic films on the map over 20 years ago.



The first "Crocodile Dundee" film was released in 1986 to huge commercial success worldwide -- it was the highest grossing film internationally that year -- spawned two sequels and was credited with boosting the Australian tourist industry.



A lot of the laughs in the film come from the depiction of Mick Dundee (played by Hogan) as an unreconstructed, Aussie bloke struggling to come to terms with modern metropolitan life when he leaves small town Australia to visit New York.



In one scene, for example, Dundee's reaction to meeting a cross-dresser on the streets of the Big Apple is to grab the man's crotch to verify his gender.



Crocodile Dundee's comic book version of Australian identity may have worked well in the movie theaters, but it was viewed by many critics as hackneyed and out of touch with the reality of modern Australia.



The arrival of the writer and director Baz Luhrmann in the early '90s seemed to breath fresh life into Australian film.



The stunning critical and financial success of his debut feature, "Strictly Ballroom" in 1992 heralded a string of breakout hits that weren't afraid to show their feminine side.



The story of a young ballroom dancer who flouts convention and risks the ire of the judges by dancing his own moves, "Strictly Ballroom" provoked a bidding war at the Cannes Film Festival after it won the Prix de Jeunesse award.



Alongside a realistic portrayal of Australian small town life, there is a warm-hearted send up of the peculiar world of ballroom dancing. From the sequined costumes to the Cyndi Lauper soundtrack, the movie is also saturated in campness and kitsch.



The benchmark set by Luhrmann, whose 2001 stellar musical feature "Moulin Rouge!" was also defiantly camp, was matched by "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" in 1994 and by "Muriel's Wedding" to a lesser extent the same year.



"Priscilla" in particular created a huge stir when it was first released. Starring the venerable British actor Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, it is the story of three drag queens driving across the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a large bus they have named Priscilla.



It has gone on to be regarded as a camp classic -- though perhaps not in South Korea, where it was reportedly banned for fear it might encourage homosexuality.



Less overtly camp than "Priscilla", "Muriel's Wedding" celebrates the lighter side of femininity.



The story of a
Where does the comedy film come from? What film subverted the macho Aussie stereotype? What is the name of Australia's latest comedy film? What have films like "Strictly Ballroom" subverted? What does it rely on?
Australian "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", "Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger" conventional stereotypes of Australian culture as straight-talking and macho. kitschness
question: Where does the comedy film come from?, answer: Australian | question: What film subverted the macho Aussie stereotype?, answer: "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", | question: What is the name of Australia's latest comedy film?, answer: "Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger" | question: What have films like "Strictly Ballroom" subverted?, answer: conventional stereotypes of Australian culture as straight-talking and macho. | question: What does it rely on?, answer: kitschness