Dolphin Tale is a 2011 American 3D
family drama film directed by
Charles Martin Smith (his first directed film since 2008) from a screenplay by Karen Janszen and Noam Dromi and a book of the same name. It stars
Nathan Gamble,
Harry Connick, Jr.,
Ashley Judd,
Kris Kristofferson,
Cozi Zuehlsdorff in her big screen debut, and
Morgan Freeman. The book and film are inspired by the true story of
Winter, a
bottlenose dolphin that was rescued in December 2005 off the
Florida coast and taken in by the
Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Winter lost her tail after becoming entangled with a rope attached to a crab trap and was fitted with a prosthetic one. The film was theatrically released on September 23, 2011 by
Warner Bros. Pictures and
Summit Entertainment.
Dolphin Tale received positive reviews from critics and it earned $95.9 million on a $37 million budget. A sequel,
Dolphin Tale 2 was released on September 12, 2014.