We Bought a Zoo
We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American biographical comedy drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. It was co-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 is based on the Dartmoor Zoological Park, which is a 33-acre zoological garden located near the village of Sparkwell, Devon, England.
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| Screenplay by | Aline Brosh McKenna
Cameron Crowe |
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| Based on | We Bought a Zoo
by Benjamin Mee |
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| Running time | 124 minutes
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| Country | United States
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| Language | English
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| Language | English
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ALBUM CHRONOLOGY
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Dylan Mee: 20 seconds of courage. 20 seconds of courage. Okay. Okay.
(knocks on Lily's window. She squeals a disturbed noise, turns around and sees him. She walks to the window and opens it)
Lily Miska: Hi.
Dylan Mee: Hi. Look, am I nuts to say that I missed you like crazy a lot? A lot!
(Lily shakes her head)
Dylan Mee: I was... I wasn't named after Bob Dylan. I was named after a dog named Dylan.
Lily Miska: (laughs) I don't really care. Who cares. Sorry about the rain.
Dylan Mee: No, I love it. I love your hair, I love your sign, Lily, I love you.
(Lily stops laughing the moment he says the word "you". They look at each other for a while, then smile before they move in for a hug through the window opening)
- In the movie, the character, Rosie, refers to her dad, Benjamin Mee, as "more handsome" than the other dads because most of them don't have hair. The real Benjamin Mee is completely bald.
- Amy Adams, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Rachel McAdams were considered for the role of Kelly Foster.
- When Benjamin Mee first meets the staff, Kelly mentions that there is a weak enclosure between the jaguar and the tigers. In the real Dartmoor zoo the jaguar escaped into the tiger enclosure.
- When Matt Damon's character climbs over the tree the real Benjamin Mee, Milo Mee (Dylan in the movie) and Ella Mee (Rosie in the movie) can be seen as the first family in line. In the scene, Benjamin Mee is wearing what appears to be a Dartmoor Zoological Park cap, which is the actual zoo in England on which the movie is based.
- During the first pub scene an old TV is showing a soccer match where a goal had just been scored by Brian Talbot for Arsenal. This was a significant English FA Cup final match in 1979 between Arsenal and Manchester United where with minutes remaining Arsenal snatched victory to win 3-2 ending a thrilling final.
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