We Bought a Zoo (2011) on Netflix
Seven months after his wife's death, Benjamin Mee buys a house in the California countryside that comes with a rundown zoo. His son Dylan is unhappy; his daughter Rosie is pleased.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.0/10162,334 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes64%
Trailer
Plot summary
Benjamin Mee's fourteen-year-old son Dylan has just been expelled from school. Seven months after his wife Katherine died, Benjamin decides his family needs a fresh start and begins looking for a new house. Rosie, his seven-year-old daughter, spots a listing for a large old property, but the real estate agent, Mr. Stevens, explains that the house comes only with the zoo on its grounds, closed for years. After seeing Rosie play with peacocks, Benjamin resolves to buy both. Dylan, upset at leaving his friends, withdraws into his art, and Benjamin's accountant brother Duncan tries to talk him out of the purchase. At the zoo, head keeper Kelly Foster and her staff begin renovations to prepare for a reopening, and Dylan meets Kelly's homeschooled cousin Lily.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about We Bought a Zoo (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Crowe traveled to the set of True Grit to persuade Matt Damon to take the lead, presenting him with a script, a CD of live versions of classic songs he had burned himself and a copy of the 1983 film Local Hero. Damon was persuaded after being moved by the music and finding Local Hero a "masterpiece".
- The real Benjamin Mee is British, whereas in the film he is American. The story was adapted for an American audience and Mee approved the changes.
- Instead of an escaping grizzly bear, as portrayed by the film, it was a jaguar called Sovereign that had escaped.
- In real life the zoo took almost two years to buy, and Benjamin Mee's first offer for it was rejected because of his lack of experience in the zoological world.
