How a real-life British zoo purchase became a sentimental American cinematic fable
In short: Cameron Crowe’s 2011 film We Bought a Zoo transforms a true story of family resilience into a Hollywood drama. While the movie captures the spirit of Benjamin Mee’s 2008 memoir, it significantly alters the timeline, geography, and personal stakes to create a polished, if formulaic, tale of fresh starts.
The film follows Benjamin Mee, a widower who impulsively purchases a dilapidated zoo alongside a new home to provide a fresh start for his children. In reality, the story was quite different. The real Benjamin Mee is British, and the actual property, Dartmoor Zoological Park, is located in Devon, England, rather than the film's fictional Rosemoor Wildlife Park in California. Furthermore, the real-life purchase was a calculated family decision involving Mee’s mother, whereas the film frames the acquisition as a spontaneous reaction to finding a house the family liked.
Chronology and tragedy were also heavily restructured for the screen. In the film, Benjamin buys the zoo after his wife Katherine has already passed away, serving as a catalyst for his grief-stricken family to move on. In actual events, Katherine died after the family had already purchased and moved into the zoo. The film also dramatizes the danger of the animals; while the movie features an escaping grizzly bear, the real-life incident involved a jaguar named Sovereign. Even the children’s ages were adjusted, with the real children being younger than their cinematic counterparts.
Despite these departures, the film remains a notable entry in director Cameron Crowe’s filmography, marking his first narrative feature since 2005. Matt Damon’s performance as Benjamin Mee was widely praised by critics, even as many reviewers noted the film’s reliance on sentimental tropes. The production was a significant undertaking, requiring the construction of a custom zoo set at Greenfield Ranch in California. While it received mixed critical reviews, the film resonated with audiences, earning an 'A' grade from CinemaScore and achieving a rare box office feat by increasing its performance in its second weekend by 41.4%.
Ultimately, the film serves as a testament to the power of adaptation. By shifting the setting to the United States and streamlining the narrative, Crowe aimed to make the story accessible to a broader audience. While the film may be criticized for its 'classic movie logic' and avoidance of the harsher realities of illness, it succeeds as a seductive ideal of harmony and human resilience, anchored by a performance that many critics found deeply moving.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: We Bought a Zoo
- Also: We Bought a Zoo
- Also: Wikidata — We Bought a Zoo · CC0
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