We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Broken-Down Zoo, and the 200 Animals That Changed a Family Forever

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This is his true account of how he bought a failing ramshackle zoo, with the aim of rescuing and re-opening it to the public. Matt Damon was cast as Mee (who was delighted: "I believed he was thoughtful, self-aware and self-deprecating"). In 2011, We Bought a Zoo came to screens for the first time, putting Dartmoor Zoo - or Rosemoor Zoo as it's known in the film - on a global stage. 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". We have births, we have deaths and they remind you that we are just another family unit that has suffered a loss – like the tigers who lost their grand­father or the tapirs who had a stillborn calf.

Ben takes his children to the restaurant where he met their mother, explaining that it was the point where they became a "possibility". The zoo staff, led by the 28-year old head keeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson), help Ben to start renovating the zoo with the intent to reopen it to the public. 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. To help pay for this work, the zoo also serves as a wedding venue and a glamping site is in the offing.She was dressed in her red cape and running ahead of me, with the wolves loping silently alongside her. He has certainly had a chequered past with diverse experiences, and although this has clearly stood him in good stead in one sense, it has sometimes been a disadvantage in earning the respect of professionals - of one type or another.

Her scan on December 22, just before Christmas, was disastrous - the cancer was back in eight places. Many times, I really get into Non-fiction audiobooks because the author will take a subject I may not know much about or that I have not previously interested in and make it totally enthralling. While this lifts the zoo workers' morale, Dylan is unhappy about having to stay; he confronts his father, and a heated argument ensues.Crowe thinks the best part is that the story continues in real life: "You can leave the movie theatre and go through the turnstiles into Dartmoor zoo.

TheHollywoodReporter 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. Benjamin’s story is a remarkable tale of anxious wolves, awkward creditors, escaping big cats, the power of family and the triumph of hope over tragedy. And there were certain little vignettes from the film that were based on real events but then a lot of drama. ScarlettJohansson 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. The day begins early, usually with a staff problem (we have 37 now, so the scope is virtually endless), proceeding to the interminable admin, and then, if you're lucky, overseeing a building project like the design of the new lynx enclosure.

When she was alive, I worked from home and tried to share the childcare 50:50 but doing 100% really does mean you are so close. 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.

Through January, the zoo are running Members Month - any Dartmoor Zoo member can bring up to four guests in for 50 per cent off.Mee, 46, a freelance journalist, and his wife, Katherine, had been living in the south of France with their children, Milo, now 10, and Ella, eight. The evening prior to the zoo's grand opening the worst rainstorm in 100 years is predicted to wash it out and, although the weather clears in time, they are disappointed the next morning when no visitors arrive, though they soon discover that a fallen tree has blocked the access road. There were some things, some animal related things in the film that I wish they'd talked to me about.