Spellbound (2002) on Netflix
NR20021h 37mDocumentary
Eight spellers compete in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Among them are Angela Arenivar, Nupur Lala, Ted Brigham, Emily Stagg and Harry Altman.
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- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.6/1012,670 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes97%
Trailer
Plot summary
Angela Arenivar of Perryton, Texas, represented the Amarillo Globe-News at the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. She is one of eight spellers the documentary follows before, during and after the competition. Nupur Lala is another. Ted Brigham, speller number one, came from the Rolla Daily Record of Rolla, Missouri. Emily Stagg had the New Haven Register as her sponsor in New Haven, Connecticut. Ashley White represented The Washington Informer in Washington, DC. The Orange County Register sponsored Neil Kadakia of San Clemente, California. April DeGideo lives in Ambler, Pennsylvania, and represented the Times Herald of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Harry Altman is speller number eight. George Thampy, speller number 245, is mentioned several times, and past champion Frank Neuhauser appears. Alex Cameron is the official pronouncer.
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Spellbound (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Neil Kadakia, a speller from San Clemente, California, was sponsored by the Orange County Register at the bee, and his grandfather paid 1,000 people in India to pray for him during the bee.
- After Ashley White's teenage pregnancy at 18, a marketing consultant who had seen the documentary rallied other viewers to help her get into Howard University, where she later earned a master's degree in social work.
- Allyson Lieberman was originally slated to be one of the spellers featured in Spellbound, but her clips were left out of the finished film; the cut scene appears among the DVD's special features.
SPOILER
Nupur Lala, speller #155 and champion of the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee with the word "logorrhea", turned down an MTV reality show that would have followed her through college.
