When the ad for Dolphin Tale first appeared on television, both my kids screamed out "Daddy, I want to see that!" I sighed and hoped their request would fade away like so many other ad-triggered requests. Little did I know that Warner Brothers had a media blitz aimed straight at my kids. Ads appeared repeatedly on television; signs were plastered at the shopping center; billboards appeared roadside. We couldn't escape the onslaught.
My kids are big students of marine mammals. They each have their favorite cetaceans. The ads had them hooked and was reeling them in. My resistance was futile. I begrudgingly let them drag me to the local movie theater.
1. Is it based on a true story?
Yes. In December 2006, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium found a dolphin wrapped tightly in a crab trap line. She was rescued from Mosquito Lagoon (near Cape Canaveral) and transported back to their facility. Unfortunately, the dolphin lost her entire tail as well as two vertebrae, a result of the serious injuries that she had sustained.
2. Will my kids like it?
If they like dolphins then they will probably like the movie. Even if your kids think that dolphins are fish, they may still like it. Two young kids and the dolphin get most of the screen time. Roofus, the pesky albatross, steals the movie. (He got his name because he lives on the roof.)
__3. Will I like it? __
As you can tell, I had little interest in the movie. But much to my surprise, the movie exceeded my extremely low expectations. Even my cold, geeky heart responded to the pulling of the heartstrings when the mom realizes the emotional growth in her son. It's not a good movie, but it's not the painfully bad movie that I thought it would be.
4. But I'm an Ashley Judd and/or Morgan Freeman and/or Harry Connick, Jr. fan...
Sorry, but the kids and the dolphin are the stars of the movie. They allow Mr. Freeman to (annoyingly) refer to the dolphin as a fish.
5. So what did they add to the story?
I could have done without all the stray story lines in the movie. The boy's father abandoned them; the girl's mother died; a real estate developer wants to buy the aquarium and build a hotel; and a hurricane hits Clearwater. The worst offender was the possibility that they would have to kill the dolphin. Many kids in the audience were upset by that plot development.
6. What about the science?
To create a new tail for the dolphin, Kevin Carroll, a VP at Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, and prosthetist Dan Strzempka developed something they call Winter’s gel made of thermoplastic elastomer. The trainer rolls it onto Winter’s stump and then slips the prosthesis tail over it. The gel has been such a success that prosthetists have begun using it for human patients. It's softer and less irritating than other liners. It’s especially helpful for keeping the prosthetics of amputee athletes in place when their skin becomes slick with sweat.
7. Should I see it in 3D?
I didn't. Avatar created a new 3D movie experience, but everything since then has been a disappointment. There were a few scenes in Dolphin Tale that were obviously shot to create some 3D effects.
