Story of movie We Bought A Zoo :
We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American family comedy-drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. It was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as widowed father Benjamin Mee, who purchases a dilapidated zoo with his family and takes on the challenge of preparing the zoo for its reopening to the public. The film also stars Scarlett Johansson, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Fugit, Elle Fanning, Colin Ford, and John Michael Higgins. The film was released in the United States on December 23, 2011 by 20th Century Fox. The film earned $120.1 million on a $50 million budget. We Bought a Zoo was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 3, 2012 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Dartmoor Zoological Park (originally Dartmoor Wildlife Park), on which the film is based, is a 33-acre zoological garden located near the village of Sparkwell, Devon, England.
| We Bought a Zoo | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Cameron Crowe |
| Produced by | Julie Yorn Cameron Crowe Marc Gordon |
| Screenplay by | Aline Brosh McKenna Cameron Crowe |
| Based on | We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee |
| Starring | Matt Damon Scarlett Johansson Thomas Haden Church Patrick Fugit Colin Ford Elle Fanning Maggie Elizabeth Jones John Michael Higgins |
| Music by | Jónsi |
| Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto |
| Edited by | Mark Livolsi |
Production company | Vinyl Films LBI Entertainment Dune Entertainment |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 124 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $120.1 million |
Screenplay
Benjamin Mee is still grieving the loss of his wife Katherine and dealing with the expulsion of his 14-year-old son, Dylan, from school, and decides to make a fresh start by buying a new house. He tours many houses with his 7-year-old daughter, Rosie, and his realtor, Mr. Stevens, but finds none he likes until his daughter finds a listing with what seems like the perfect house. They drive to an old large house and Benjamin inspects the property, telling his realtor it is perfect. When they hear a lion roar, Stevens explains that the house comes with a zoo in the back, which closed several years before; if they want the house, they must buy the zoo.
Mee eventually decides to buy the zoo when he sees Rosie happily playing with the peacocks. Dylan, however, hates the idea of moving away from his friends and retreats into his artwork which has grown more macabre since the death of his mother. Benjamin's brother, Duncan, tries to dissuade him from the purchase, but Benjamin buys it anyway. The zoo staff, led by the 28-year-old head keeper, Kelly Foster, help to start renovating the zoo with the intent to reopen it to the public. When Kelly confronts Benjamin about why he bought a zoo, knowing nothing about running one, Benjamin simply responds, "Why not?" Dylan befriends Kelly's 13-year-old homeschooled cousin, Lily Miska, who develops a romantic interest that Dylan is oblivious to.
A strict USDA inspector, Walter Ferris, arrives for a surprise inspection and makes a list of repairs that would cost around $100,000, which Benjamin does not have. Rhonda Blair, the zoo's accountant, gossips that Benjamin will probably sell the zoo. The workers' morale sinks, fearing the property will be sold to a buyer that will close it down.
When Lily tells Dylan that she heard his family might be leaving, he is overjoyed, which hurts her feelings. Benjamin discovers that his wife bequeathed him an investment account, with instructions to use the money wisely while listening to his heart. Duncan advises him to walk away and start over with the money, but Benjamin decides to use the money to repair the zoo. While this lifts the zoo workers' morale, Dylan is unhappy about having to stay; he confronts his father, and a heated argument ensues. They reconcile the next morning and Dylan admits he misses Lily. Benjamin gives his son advice using his favorite principle, that you only need 20 seconds of courage to achieve great things. 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.
Prior to the grand opening of the zoo, the facility passes a very stringent inspection from Ferris, who grudgingly wishes them good luck. Dylan, following his father's advice, confesses to Lily that he loves her and she forgives him. The week prior to the opening, the worst rainstorm in 100 years is predicted to wash it out. The weather clears in time, but in the morning they are disappointed when no visitors arrive. They discover that a fallen tree has blocked the access road, with a large crowd of waiting visitors behind it. The staff help them to climb over the tree. There are so many people that they run out of tickets, forcing Benjamin and Kelly to look for more. They end up face to face in a shed, where Kelly admits to Benjamin that she is romantically interested in him and since she "can't get a handle on it", she kisses him, telling him that maybe they can do it again on New Year's Eve; Benjamin kisses her back, and tells her that he is looking forward to it.
Benjamin takes his children to the restaurant where he met their mother, explaining that it was the point where their existence became a possibility. He takes them through that day's encounter, where Benjamin worked up the nerve to talk to his future wife with "20 seconds of insane courage", and walks up to the table she was sitting. He visualizes her sitting there, and asks her why such an amazing woman would talk to someone like him. She responds, "Why not?"
- Matt Damon as Benjamin Mee, the father of Dylan and Rosie Mee and the owner of the zoo, who is trying to restart his life after his wife dies.
- Scarlett Johansson as Kelly Foster, the 28-year-old lead zookeeper and long-time employee at Rosemoor Animal Park.
- Thomas Haden Church as Duncan Mee, Benjamin's older brother and an accountant and Dylan and Rosie's uncle
- Colin Ford as Dylan Mee, 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.
- Maggie Elizabeth Jones as Rosie Mee, Benjamin's 7-year-old daughter, who is very curious about all of the animals in the zoo and thinks living at a zoo is a grand adventure.
- Elle Fanning as Lily Miska, 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), but later gives up on her pursuit of a relationship with him after Dylan doesn't listen to her and unintentionally hurts her feelings. After he subsequently apologizes and tells her of his own feelings for her, she forgives him and they resume their friendship and start their relationship.
- Patrick Fugit as Robin Jones; the zoo's craftsman and Crystal the Monkey's owner.
- John Michael Higgins as Walter "Walt" Ferris, a strict zoo inspector who earns the dislike of many people, especially Peter MacCreedy.
- 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.
- Carla Gallo as Rhonda Blair, the secretary and bookkeeper of the zoo.
- J. B. Smoove as Mr. Stevens, the Mee family's real estate agent.
- Stéphanie Szostak as Katherine Mee, the deceased wife of Benjamin Mee.
- Desi Lydic as Shea Seger, a woman with an obvious crush on Benjamin who always brings him lasagna.
- Peter Riegert as Delbert McGinty, Benjamin's boss before he 'starts over'.
- Michael Panes as the principal of Dylan and Rosie's school.
- Kym Whitley as Eve the Home Depot Clerk.
- Crystal the Monkey as Herself.
- Bart / Tank the Bear as Buster, the grizzly bear.
The zoo scenes were filmed at Greenfield Ranch in Hidden Valley, Thousand Oaks, CA, where a zoo was erected for the filming.
Development
In May 2010, Cameron Crowe agreed to direct the 20th Century Fox adaptation of Benjamin Mee's memoir We Bought a Zoo. He then began rewriting the film's script, which was originally written by Aline Brosh McKenna. This was the first film that was directed by Crowe since the 2005 film Elizabethtown. The film was released on December 23, 2011.
Casting
Crowe traveled to the set of the film True Grit to persuade actor Matt Damon to take on the role of the lead character in the film. Crowe also presented a script of the film, a CD of songs that Crowe composed himself, and a copy of the 1983 film Local Hero, with instructions "to not just read the script and make a decision". Damon was persuaded to play the role after he was moved by Crowe's music and found that Local Hero was a "masterpiece". As for Crowe himself, he had already decided on Damon halfway through their meeting, though the distributor Fox still had a shortlist of candidates to play this role.
| We Bought a Zoo | |
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| Soundtrack album by Jónsi | |
| Released | December 9, 2011 |
| Recorded | 2011 |
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| Length | 51:12 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Producer |
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In August 2011, it was announced that Icelandic musician Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson, the lead singer of the band Sigur Rós, would be composing the music scores for We Bought a Zoo. Director Crowe described the choice as "only natural", since "Jónsi has been a part of the making of We Bought A Zoo from the very beginning".
The song Gathering Stories was on the shortlist of 39 songs that have a chance of being nominated for Best Original Song Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards. This song was co-written by Jonsi Birgisson and Cameron Crowe.
While the official CD release of the movie soundtrack only includes music by Jón Þór "Jónsi" Birgisson and Sigur Rós, the complete soundtrack of the film included a variety of artists.
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