During a recent flight, Robert Irwin had the opportunity to remember his late father, Steve Irwin. On Sunday, June 22, the 21-year-old conservationist shared a video that showed him sitting on a plane and looking through the movie options. Under “Popular Movies,” he found The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, the 2002 adventure comedy film that his dad had starred in. Understandably, the sweet clip made fans pretty emotional.
Robert praised the in-flight movie options.
In the video shared via Instagram, Robert smiled as he selected his late dad’s film. “When the in-flight movie selection is elite 👌,” he captioned the post. Though the clip was short and simple, many fans found it incredibly touching and noted that Robert’s sentimental posts about his dad regularly make them cry.
Others commented on the opportunity Robert has to watch full-length movies featuring his late father. One person said that Robert was “blessed to still be able to see his dad doing his thing.”
At the same time, another one of his follower’s acknowledged that the ability to do so probably triggers a lot of different emotions. “Aww that must be so weird, cool, emotional, proud all at the same time,” they wrote.
A third fan added: “Could you imagine having hundreds of hours of your Dad talking, educating, and doing what he loves. He is quite certainly blessed!”
Robert was very young when he lost his father.
Steve Irwin died in 2006 after being stung by a stingray. Robert hadn’t even turned 3 years old yet. During an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, Robert spoke about how losing his dad at such a young age has impacted him.
“When you lose someone, a father figure, at such a young age, who is such a commanding presence of positivity and everything that is good in the world, of course all I want is for him to be here for me; to go, ‘What do you think about this, what do you think about that?” he told the publication. “There are so many things I wish I could ask him on so many levels.”
He still shares memories of his father with fans.
Robert’s commitment to continuing his dad’s legacy has motivated him to pursue conservation work himself. He regularly mentions his late father in social media posts, including one about a crocodile research trip in 2024. At the time, he praised his late father’s techniques, writing, “First step to catching crocs for our crocodile research trip, is building the traps … utilizing the very same techniques Dad came up with. We haven’t had to change a thing.”
In March 2025, Robert shared a video in which he went around the Australia Zoo harvesting food for his lunch. During the video, he spoke about one of his earliest memories of his dad. He explained that his motorbike is “very nostalgic” because “Dad used to take my sister and I around the zoo.”
“He used to go around, and we’d pick fruit and macadamia nuts,” Robert added. “As a kid, I used to sneak down here to the sugar cane, [and] just absolutely go to town.”
