Taglines: Winter’s amazing true story… now has Hope.
It has been several years since young Sawyer Nelson and the dedicated team at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, headed by Dr. Clay Haskett, rescued Winter. With the help of Dr. Cameron McCarthy, who developed a unique prosthetic tail for the injured dolphin, they were able to save her life. Yet their fight is not over. Winter’s surrogate mother, the very elderly dolphin Panama, has passed away, leaving Winter without the only poolmate she has ever known.
However, the loss of Panama may have even greater repercussions for Winter, who, according to USDA regulations, cannot be housed alone, as dolphins’ social behavior requires them to be paired with other dolphins. Time is running out to find a companion for her before the team at Clearwater loses their beloved Winter to another aquarium.
Dolphin Tale 2 is an American family drama film written and directed by Charles Martin Smith and sequel to his 2011 film Dolphin Tale. Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman, Juliana Harkavy, Austin Stowell and Austin Highsmith all reprise their roles from the first film while Lee Karlinsky, Julia Jordan, and Bethany Hamilton join the cast. The film was released on September 12, 2014 and tells the story of another dolphin at the hospital named “Hope”.
About the Story
Sawyer, the boy who was once instrumental in saving “Winter” three years ago, is now an integral employee at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and is training new volunteers at the aquarium. We are introduced to a new dolphin named “Mandy.” Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) has rescued Mandy after she was stranded near a beach and discovered by a little girl. Mandy has a bad sunburn and some respiratory problems from being stranded in the sun too long with her blowhole mostly exposed. She is being rehabilitated at the aquarium.
Winter has a friend at CMA named Panama. Like Winter, Panama cannot return to the ocean. Panama is deaf and is quite old for a dolphin. She is expected to be at least 40 years old. It is alluded to that Panama has some health issues and it appears by Winter’s erratic actions that she is concerned about her dolphin friend. Sawyer is approached by a professor from Boston University about attending an elite SEA Semester program for three months.
Only one high school student per year is selected for this program, which takes place on a tall sailing ship and focuses on marine mammal research. It comes with a full scholarship and his family is excited for him to have this opportunity. Sawyer is unsure whether he wants to go, as he is concerned about leaving Winter for an extended period of time.
When Sawyer returns to the aquarium, Panama is lying dead at the bottom of the pool. Her death happened very quickly, but does not come as a complete surprise because of her old age. All employees of CMA are very upset. However, the death is the hardest on Winter. Winter stops eating much and refuses to wear her prosthetic tail. Her health starts to deteriorate for these reasons and tests show she is under stress.
An inspector for the USDA comes to visit CMA and check on the animals. He gives Dr. Clay a violation for keeping Winter in isolation and because of her deteriorating health. He issues as requirement that Dr. Clay matches Winter with another female dolphin within 30 days. In the meantime, Winter continues to be very unhappy. When Sawyer attempts to get her out of the tank for a new cast of her tail, Winter becomes aggressive and smacks Sawyer across the face with her rostrum, knocking him in the water. Phoebe jumps in the pool and rescues Sawyer. Winter then returns to floating at the bottom of the platform. The incident leaves Sawyer’s wrist injured, and a small bruise on his face. Dr. Clay orders that Sawyer has to take a break from swimming with Winter.
Everyone at CMA stakes their hopes on Winter being paired together with Mandy in order to satisfy the USDA and improve Winter’s health. However, Mandy has improved greatly and has a clean bill of health. Dr. Clay says Mandy can be returned to the ocean. Dr. Clay’s daughter Hazel is unhappy because she doesn’t want Winter to be transferred. She wants Mandy to stay with Winter for a short period of time to keep her from being transferred, even though she can return to the ocean. Dr. Clay makes clear that the goal of CMA is “Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release”, thus they cannot morally keep Mandy when she could return to the ocean. He has to make the call to return Mandy to the ocean, even though it becomes clear that doing so will cause CMA to lose Winter. Mandy is returned to the ocean and Hazel steps up to take a key role in her return.
Hazel and Sawyer break Dr. Clay’s rule and swim with Winter. The dolphin seems improved and is no longer aggressive. Sawyer and Hazel think she is improving. Dr. Clay then catches them and scold them for swimming with Winter. Knowing he has bigger problems, he changes the subject and tells Hazel and Sawyer that Winter will be transferred to a marine park in Texas. Meanwhile, Sawyer’s mom throws a party for him to congratulate him for being chosen to attend SEA Semester. However she wants to push him towards a decision but Sawyer is still too upset about Winter. While Sawyer is sitting outside, Dr. McCarthy sits next to him and gives him a small clock, but due to it sitting around for many years, it requires tapping to continue. Dr. McCarthy uses this as an example and tells Sawyer that he has to “shake it up now and then” and try other things in life.
Dolphin Tale 2
Directed by: Charles Martin Smith
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Kris Kristofferson, Julia Winter, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Juliana Harkavy, Bethany Hamilton
Screenplay by: Charles Martin Smith, Karen Janszen
Production Design by: David J. Bomba
Cinematography by: Daryn Okada
Film Editing by: Harvey Rosenstock
Costume Design by: Hope Hanafin
Set Decoration by: Jeffrey Scott Taylor
Art Direction by: Mark Garner
Music by: Rachel Portman
MPAA Rating: PG for some mild thematic elements.
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: September 12, 2014
Visits: 188
