Is Animal Kingdom Based On A True Story? TNT Show

TNT’s “Animal Kingdom” created a buzz on social media with its debut in July 2016. The storyline amazed the viewers, and the crime thriller received an 8.2 rating on IMDB. It’s a series about a family of dynamics in a bunch of psychopaths.

“Animal Kingdom” is the top crime drama series on the TNT network, which follows Joshua Cody, popularly known as “J”. Cody is a teenager who lives with his grandmother after the death of his mother. Nonetheless, his new household is not an ordinary one. It’s one of the most powerful felony clans led by J’s grandmother, Janine Cody. Also known as Smurf, the deadly grandmother is the head of a ferocious gang involved in robbery and drug dealing. With the perfect blend of family dysfunction, dark past, and criminal background, “Animal Kingdom” has turned out to be one of the most binge-worthy shows on TNT Network. With its debut in 2016, the show instantly caught the audience’s eyeballs with its fascinating dark-thrilling plot. The fans got hooked to the show titling it as the best show on TV. “Animal Kingdom” is the ultimate package of illegal activities, action, thrill, suspense, and epic beatdowns.

However, there are some latest talks, that Animal Kingdom is taken from a true story. So is TNT’s most popular crime-drama series, “Animal Kingdom” based on a true event?

Is Animal Kingdom Based On A True Story?

The actual answer to this question is pretty puzzling. The fans revealed that the creators were inspired by the Pettingill criminal family of Melbourne while tailoring the script for “Animal Kingdom”. On the other hand, TNT’s “Animal Kingdom” is based on the 2010 Australian film of the same name. The 2010’s movie was hugely popular, and it received tons of nominations.

Creator David Michod unveiled the secret that he was loosely inspired by the movie, which helped him to deliver such an interesting true crime-drama series. However, there were rumors that Michod collected the complete plot from the scary events of the 1988 Walsh Street police shooting. But, Michod clarified that he simply wanted to weave a massive fictional story, and it has no connection with the true event.

Although there is no solid evidence that “Animal Kingdom” is based on a true story, the viewers find many similarities of characters with the Pettingill crime family. The Codys show an incredible resemblance with the Pettingills. The matriarch’s character resembles the queen of the crime circle, Kath Pettingill. While J’s character is probably inspired by Jason Ryan, the drug dealer’s grandson. However, the real-life Kath was hugely disappointed with the show and she claimed that it is completely fictional and does not feature the actual events. Therefore, with her statement, we can conclude that “Animal Kingdom” is a piece of crime drama fiction by David Michod.