The Real Story: We Bought a Zoo
Posted on December 18, 2011 at 3:33 pm
The new Cameron Crowe movie starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson is based on a true story about a real family that bought a real zoo. Damon’s character is based on author Benjamin Mee (shown here with Damon), who wrote We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever
The real-life story is a little different from the one in the movie. Both Damon’s character and the real-life Mee are widowers with young children. But the real Mee bought the zoo with his mother, brother, and sister before his wife died. The movie zoo is in the US. The Dartmoor Zoological Park is located in southwest England. Its 33 acres of woodland include tigers, lions, jaguar, lynx and cheetah, bears, wolves, tapir, capybara, racoons, meerkats, monkeys, deer, owls, ostrich, lechwe, bugs, reptiles and much, much more. Mee’s charming description of his family’s decision to buy the zoo and their early days is on their website. But it doesn’t say anything about a zookeeper on staff who looks like Scarlett Johansson.
. It is the story of a year-long journey she took following a devastating divorce and love affair that left her questioning the most fundamental notions of who she was and where she was going. She decided she would do three things she thought would be spiritually nurturing and sustaining. She had always wanted to learn Italian, which she thought was the most beautiful language. She began in Italy, being kind to herself, and that included not just learning Italian but, as the title of the book suggests, eating Italian, too. Once she felt physically restored, she went to India, to commune with the divine. She meditated in an ashram, learning patience and humility. And then she went to Bali, where a shaman had once invited her to return, to try to achieve balance. The book inspired this week’s feature film, with Julia Roberts. Those interested in the real story can find