Was there a reason why Elaine said "Maybe the Dingo ate your Baby"?

Question

In Seinfeld S03E10 ("The Stranded"), there is a part where Elaine is sitting on a couch with some other people, and one woman (I believe the host of the party), is talking about her fiancé, and putting heavy emphasis on the word "fiancé." Elaine says to her "Maybe the Dingo ate your Baby," to which the woman looks a little confused about.

Did Elaine say this for a reason? Besides being random, was there a reason pointed out in the episode that she was alluding to? Or was she just mocking the woman?

Video of scene:

Answer 1

Elaine is paraphrasing a line from certain movie. She was doing it out of frustration to mock the lady who was blabbering and kept calling her fiancé "baby".

It's a reference to the 1988 movie A Cry in the Dark starring Meryl Streep, who uses a New Zealand/Australian accent, as this movie was based on a true story.

The gist of that true story is:

Azaria Chamberlain (11 June 1980 – 17 August 1980) was an Australian 2-month-old baby girl who was killed by a dingo on the night of 17 August 1980 on a family camping trip to Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory.... Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo.

And apparently that incident did become a bit popular after Meryl Streep's movie. In the film, Streep's character, upon discovering her daughter missing, cries out, "The dingo took my baby!" See that scene here:

As you see, it was a tragic incident. But at the party that lady was annoying Elaine by referring to her fiancé as "baby" and with an even more annoying accent when Elaine was already bored. So Elain took a shot at her and blurted out "Maybe the dingo ate your baby!" followed by an evil smile.

Answer 2

It refers to a 1980 incident in Australia when a 2 month old baby was taken from her parents tent and eaten. Wikipedia says this:

Her body was never found. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, reported that she had been taken from their tent by a dingo. Lindy Chamberlain was, however, tried for murder and spent more than three years in prison. She was released when a piece of Azaria's clothing was found near a dingo lair, and new inquests were opened. In 2012, some 32 years after Azaria's death, the Chamberlains' version of events was officially confirmed by a coroner.

Answer 3

Both Pale Blue Dot and user1118321 have brilliantly explained the source of the "dingo" line. This post is meant to only supplement their answers.

It's worth pointing out that Julia Dreyfus (Elaine) attempts to pull off an Australian accent in the clip, but isn't very successful. Whether the bad Australian accent was deliberate or not is debatable, but in order for the joke to work, the accent is a key element.

I've not seen the episode, and only rarely have I seen an episode or two of Seinfeld, but I'm guessing that Elaine was resentful and irritated by the woman loudly asking/boasting where her fiancé was (I have lost my fiancè, the poor baby), which implies the obnoxious woman was engaged to be married, Elaine probably typifies the American single woman (in the 1980s) who was looking for her Mr. Right, but could never seem to find him. So, maybe a dingo, in its figurative sense, had also ate her chances of ever getting married...

Answer 4

Elanine’s referencing a well known case that took place in Australia in the early 80’s in which a small child went missing from a tent at a camp site. She’s paraphrasing what the child’s mother is alleged to have said when discovering her child gone. The mother was subsequently tried and convicted of her daughter’s murder. The evidence against her was flimsy at best and the case is now seen as a terrible instance of public opinion influencing the course of a trial. The people of Australia should be ashamed of themselves. Her conviction was overturned when a random hiker found a half-buried sweater the baby was wearing when taken. Forensic evidence supported the mother's original story. Whatever the intent of the writers, it’s distasteful. Par for the course when it comes to anything involving Larry David.