Zookeeper is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, with a screenplay by Nick Bakay, Rock Reuben, Kevin James, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn, from a story by Scherick and Ronn, and produced by Todd Garner, James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Walt Becker. The film stars James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Nat Faxon, Joe Rogan, and features the voices of Cher, Nick Nolte, Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Judd Apatow, Jim Breuer, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Richie Minervini, Maya Rudolph, Bas Rutten and Don Rickles in his final film role. It tells the story about an unlucky zookeeper and the talking animals at his zoo who break their silence to help him find love.
Filming began in Boston on August 17, 2009. It was the first Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) film to be co-produced with Happy Madison, as well as MGM's first production to be released after it had filed for bankruptcy the year prior, though the film, like a majority of the Happy Madison output, was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Zookeeper was released in the United States on July 8, 2011. It received generally negative reviews and grossed $170 million on an $80 million budget.
Contents
Plot
In Boston, zookeeper Griffin Keyes proposes to his girlfriend Stephanie, but is turned down. She says his career as a zookeeper is the reason, breaking his heart. 5 years later, Griffin is now the head zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo, caring deeply for the animals. That night, Griffin holds an engagement party there for his brother Dave, but freaks out when he discovers that Stephanie was invited. Dave suggests that Griffin work with him at his car dealership to get Stephanie back, so Griffin considers doing it.
The animals hold a meeting that evening as they feel that Griffin is the best zookeeper, so they decide to find some way to help him win back Stephanie without leaving the zoo. Jerome the brown bear suggests that they teach Griffin their mating techniques, but Joe the lion protests, reminding them that it's against the animal code to talk to humans. Donald the monkey suggests that they make Griffin look like a hero when Stephanie is at the zoo tomorrow.
The next day, Donald lets out Joe, who confronts Stephanie and Dave's fiancée Robin. However, Griffin screws up the animals' plan by failing to jump into the lion enclosure, and instead Joe is captured by Kate, the zoo veterinarian. When he climbs out of the enclosure, Joe accidentally yells at Griffin in frustration, Griffin runs back home, thinking he went crazy. The next day at the zoo, Griffin observes Joe in an attempt to catch him talking. After nothing happens, when Griffin gives Barry the elephant food, Joe confronts him and tells him that he wants to talk and they want to talk to each other, but Griffin is knocked unconscious in an attempt to run away. That night, he wakes up and is surrounded by the animals, who break the code of silence and tell him that they will teach him to win back Stephanie. He learns their different mating rituals, ending up humiliating himself at a party in front of the other zookeepers and the guests.
Griffin then has a talk with Bernie, a forlorn gorilla who has spent years in a deep enclosure after allegedly attacking a zookeeper named Shane. Bernie tells Griffin that Shane fell when he was abusing him, and lied, saying that Bernie attacked him, causing the zoo to close down Bernie's enclosure and move him into the cement pit he hates. This also caused Bernie to mistrust humans. Griffin, empathizing with Bernie, decides to take him out on the town (posing him as a guy in a costume), and the two bond as they become friends.
Cast
Animals
Tom Woodruff Jr. as Bernie (in-suit performance), a Western lowland gorilla, and Griffin's best friend.
Crystal the Monkey as Donald, a tufted capuchin.
Bart the Bear 2 as Jerome, a grizzly bear, who is Bruce's brother.
Honey Bump Bear as Bruce, a Kodiak bear, who is Jerome's brother.
Tweet as Mollie, a reticulated giraffe speaking with a South-Western accent.
Cher as Janet, a lioness, and Joe's wife.
Nick Nolte as Bernie
Adam Sandler as Donald
Sylvester Stallone as Joe, an African lion, and Janet's husband.
Judd Apatow as Barry, an Indian elephant.
Jim Breuer as Spike (credited as "Crow"), a crow.
Jon Favreau as Jerome
Faizon Love as Bruce
Richie Minervini as Elmo (credited as "Ostrich"), an ostrich.
Maya Rudolph as Mollie
Bas Rutten as Sebastian, a wolf.
Don Rickles as Jim (credited as "Frog"), an American bullfrog.
Production
Development
On April 22, 2008, it was announced that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had purchased the script of the film, for $2 million, beating DreamWorks Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, and with Walt Becker attached to direct and produce.
Filming and giraffe's death
Filming began in Boston on August 17, 2009, aiming for a release on October 8, 2010, which was then delayed to July 8, 2011. Filming ended on October 30, 2009.
Tweet, the giraffe who rose to fame as a star in the classic Toys "R" Us commercials (by being cast as Geoffrey, the company's official mascot) and who appeared alongside Jim Carrey in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, died after filming Zookeeper at the Franklin Park Zoo. 18-year-old giraffe Tweet died after eating pieces of blue tarp that covered his cage. He was being held in a 20-by-20 foot stall and collapsed in his pen, causing PETA to come down hard on the filmmakers and stage protests at the film's premiere.
The two bears in this live action film were performed by Heber City, Utah's Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife veteran Grizzly actors Bart the Bear 2 and Honey Bump.
Tai the elephant was featured in a video, reportedly filmed in 2005 and released in 2011 by Animal Defenders International (ADI), which showed him being abused by its trainers. A campaign to boycott the movie was formed since the outbreak of the news. ADI has also contacted the American Humane Association, urging them to re-evaluate how they assess the use of animals in films and the statements being made which effectively endorse the use of performing animals. Animal rights advocates PETA also urged the public to boycott the film.
Music
Soundtrack
"I'll Supply the Love" – Performed by Toto
"Carry On Wayward Son" – Performed by Kansas
"Anything for You" – Performed by The Axis
"Smokin'" – Performed by Boston
"Low" – Performed by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
"Unbelievable" – Performed by EMF
"Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" – Performed by Meat Loaf
"Kickstart My Heart" – Performed by Mötley Crüe
"Boogie Wonderland" – Performed by Earth, Wind & Fire
"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" – Performed by Barry White
"Bebop Blues" – Performed by Peter Blair Jazz Quartet
"Easy" – Performed by Commodores
"Kiss You All Over" – Performed by Exile
"Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" – Performed by Love and Rockets
"(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty" – Performed by KC & The Sunshine Band
"So Much Class" – Performed by Doctor Jay featuring J. Sabin
"In the Car Crash" – Performed by Swayzak
"Yoga Music" – Written and Performed by Ana Brett, Ravi Singh and Tom Carden
Release
Theatrical
Around 50 people came to the film's premiere at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, to protest against the filmmakers for their alleged animal abuse. Frank Coraci claimed that the animals were not harmed during production. In an interview, Coraci stated, "... We worked with people who love their animals and [the American] Humane Association was there to ensure that they were being treated correctly. We didn't do anything that we shouldn't do. We treated the animals with love and respect."
Home media
Zookeeper was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 11, 2011, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Reception
Box office
Zookeeper made its debut in 3,482 theaters in the United States and Canada. It grossed $7.4 million on its opening day and $20.1 million on its opening weekend, ranking it #3 for the weekend behind holdover Transformers: Dark of the Moon and newcomer Horrible Bosses. The film grossed a worldwide total of $170 million against a production budget of $80 million budget.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 13% of 130 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Zookeeper smothers Kevin James's with a sodden script and a surfeit of jokes inappropriate for the young viewers who would be intrigued by its juvenile storyline." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Brian Lowry of Variety called it "a marketing pitch in search of a movie" and a "punishingly flat effort that offers barely enough comedy to populate a three-minute trailer." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said "it's dreadful in every respect" and called it an "archly mirthless comedy". Despite his criticism he offers some small praise: "Although one would never have expected to find her in a film like this, Dawson, by dint of enthusiasm, is the only actor who rises above the material with her dignity intact." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, who co-hosts the film review series Ebert Presents: At the Movies, said that "even though the movie looks hilarious from the trailer, it is only hilarious if you enjoy seeing Kevin James fall down a lot". He gave the film a "thumbs down," as did Christy Lemire, the other co-host of the series. In May 2011, RedLetterMedia (creators of the Mr. Plinkett reviews) did an episode of the show Half in the Bag reviewing the film's first trailer. The hosts sarcastically praised the trailer as if they thought it was a fake, well-crafted parody of a tired subset of the comedy genre, at one point noting "All they were missing was a wisecracking sidekick for Kevin James, played by a rapper."
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four, stating, "Look, a great movie this is not. A pleasant summer entertainment it is. I think it can play for all ages in a family audience... and besides, I'm getting a teensy bit exhausted by cute little animated animals. The creatures in this zoo all have the excellent taste to be in 2D." Sean O'Connell of The Washington Post wrote: "Pratfalls and agonizing tumbles appear to be James's business, and man, business is booming."
Accolades
Mary Pols of Time named it one of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2011. British newspaper The Telegraph named Zookeeper one of the ten worst films of 2011, saying "Portly Kevin James is the hero of this "comedy", which boasts five screenwriters and not a single amusing moment."
