We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever

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The adorable capaybaras will greet you at the entrance to the zoo. Like giant guinea pigs (Image: Shannon Brown/PlymouthLive) Colin Ford as Dylan Mee, [6] Benjamin's 14-year-old son, who is initially drawn to Lily and eventually develops feelings for her and has a strained and rough relationship with his father. Rooney, David (27 November 2011). "We Bought a Zoo: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2011-12-30. The zoo staff, led by head keeper Kelly Foster, start making renovations to reopen the zoo to the public. When Kelly asks Benjamin why he bought the zoo despite knowing nothing about zoo management, he simply responds, "Why not?" Meanwhile, Dylan is very unhappy and misses his friends, causing him to retreat further into his art. He is soon befriended by Kelly's 13-year-old homeschooled cousin, Lily, who develops a crush on him. In real life, Benjamin's wife, Katherine, died after they had bought the zoo and moved in. [27] In the film, Benjamin bought the zoo after her death. In real life, Benjamin's father had died and his mother needed to move; the farm cost the same price as his parents' house, and his mother came too. [28] Benjamin and his family made a specific and informed decision to buy a zoo: in the film, it occurred as a result of finding a house they liked.

Rich, Katey (2010-05-17). "Cameron Crowe Commits To We Bought A Zoo For Late 2011 Release". Cinema Blend . Retrieved 2010-10-29. Dragan, while waiting patiently for breakfast, posed so wonderfully in the early morning sunlight (Image: Shannon Brown/PlymouthLive)Knegt, Peter (December 14, 2011). " 'The Artist' Tops Phoenix Film Critics Awards". Indiewire . Retrieved July 15, 2012. The Hollywood Reporter commented that the film "has heart, humanity and a warmly empathetic central performance from Matt Damon", although it "doesn't dodge the potholes of earnest sentimentality and at times overplays the whimsy"; ultimately concluding that "Cameron Crowe's film has some rough edges, but it ultimately delivers thanks to Matt Damon's moving performance."" [20] Home media [ edit ] We were silly enough to come and look at it, to rule it out," Benjamin said. "And, of course, we got caught up in the whole drama that, if it was going to close, which it looked like it was, most of the animals would be destroyed. So we pulled out all the stops and went through lengthy negotiations for about six months and managed to buy the zoo as a broken closed zoo without a license." Salter, Jessica (3 Mar 2012). "We Bought a Zoo: the true story behind the film". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19 . Retrieved 30 Nov 2013.

Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Foster, the 28-year-old lead long-time zookeeper at Rosemoor Animal Park who is Benjamin's love interest and is a mother figure to Dylan and Rosie. John Michael Higgins as Walter "Walt" Ferris, a strict zoo inspector who earns the dislike of many people, especially Peter MacCreedy. a b Mariotti, Greg (2011-08-01). "Sigur Rós Frontman Jónsi Scoring We Bought A Zoo". The Uncool . Retrieved 2011-09-27. The zoo scenes were filmed at Greenfield Ranch in Hidden Valley, Thousand Oaks, California, where a zoo was erected for the filming. [8] [9] Development [ edit ]Instead of an escaping grizzly bear, as portrayed by the film, it was a jaguar called Sovereign that had escaped. [27] Benjamin's children were also younger (aged four and six respectively) than the children in the film. [27] Knegt, Peter (December 19, 2011). " 'Descendants,' 'Drive' Lead Satellite Award Winners". Indiewire . Retrieved May 29, 2015. Dylan, unhappy about having to stay, confronts his father and they have a heated argument. They reconcile the next morning and Dylan admits he misses Lily. Benjamin tells Dylan his favorite motto: that you only need 20 seconds of courage for something great to happen. Benjamin realizes that instead of trying to start over by forgetting his wife, he should accept that she will always be a part of him. Dylan, following his father's advice, confesses his love to Lily, and she forgives him. The song Gathering Stories was on the shortlist of 39 songs that had a chance of being nominated for Best Original Song Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards. [12] This song was co-written by Jonsi Birgisson and Cameron Crowe. [12]

Angus Macfadyen as Peter MacCreedy, the carpenter of the zoo who had made many innovative enclosures for the zoo, and he claims that his ideas were "stolen" by Walter Ferris. Because of this, he has a huge and violent grudge against Walter. Elle Fanning as Lily Miska, [7] the 13-year old home-schooled cousin of Kelly and worker at the zoo's restaurant who lives within the zoo. Although she is too young to legally work, she is paid "under the table" out of her cousin's salary. She likes Dylan, who is at first unaware of this fact. More than 10 years after the film initially aired, it is still regularly watched by people across the world, and it still shown on TV, including this weekend on Channel 4 at 13:25 on Sunday, January 8. In the interim, Dartmoor Zoo became a charity, allowing them to accept more donations from kind-hearted visitors, and save money in other areas. As the film clearly points out, it is very expensive to run a zoo.Principe, Darleen (12 December 2013). "Historic Hidden Valley property proving a tough sell". Thousand Oaks Acorn. Annual Young Artist Awards - Nominations / Special Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012 . Retrieved July 23, 2018. Actually, they made a fairly sympathetic - a very sympathetic film. About 50 per cent of it you could relate to as factual. Then, you know, there's a lot of drama and it's a much shortened story. But it was extremely surreal to see it with my kids, and see Matt Damon on the screen."