Flipper (1996 film)
Encyclopedia
Flipper is a 1996 remake
of the 1963 film of the same name
, starring Paul Hogan
and Elijah Wood
. The movie is about a boy who has to spend the summer with his uncle Porter (Paul Hogan
), who lives in the Florida Keys
. Although he expects to have another boring summer, he encounters an orphaned dolphin
which he names Flipper and with whom he forms a friendship.
). Nearby, a pod of dolphins is frolicking near Dirk's boat. As a big game fisherman, Dirk hates just about every other fish eating animal on earth. He shoots at the dolphins because they are eating the fish that he wanted his charter customers to catch. Many escape, but Flipper is separated from the main pod.
One night, Sandy, who plans to return to his home in Chicago, sets off for the docks. While there, he kicks a Pepsi
can into the water. Flipper tosses it back. Sandy repeats this trick several times and begins to feel a connection with the dolphin. Then his ferry arrives. Porter wakes up to find his nephew missing; a neighbor tells him what happened. Porter catches up with the ferry and brings Sandy back to Coral Key. The next morning, they find the devastation left by a hurricane. Porter goes for supplies, leaving Sandy to fix what he can. Sandy is distracted from his work by Flipper. Flipper then meets a girl named Kim (Jessica Wesson
), who tells Sandy that Flipper is lucky to have survived on his own this long, especially with a fearsome hammerhead shark
named Scar in the area, who has been terrorizing Coral Key for a long time. While playing, Kim explains that he'll need fish. Sandy starts his own amusement park called the Flipper Show and charges one fish for admission.
Porter arrives home and is furious when he finds out that Sandy has been playing with the dolphin rather than doing what he was meant to, and decides to teach him a lesson by letting him smoke cigars until he throws up. Shortly after this, the sheriff of Coral Key Buck Cowman (Isaac Hayes
) arrives and explains they cannot keep the dolphin. The next day, Flipper is caught by Dirk Moran's men. Porter cuts the rope to release the net. Flipper escapes, but his subsequent and prolonged absence from the area causes Sandy and Kim to set out after him in a dinghy. The two discover a group of people dumping toxic waste
into the sea. Unfortunately, the people are too far away to identify.
The next morning, Kim is on the beach when Pete, Porter's pet brown pelican
, comes running up to her, almost as if asking her to follow him. Pete leads Kim to a dying Flipper. Porter's friend, Cathy (Chelsea Field) and her untalkative son, Marvin (Jason Fuchs) mix up a special medicine, take a blood sample, and release Flipper into the wild. Cathy runs some tests on the blood sample and concludes that Flipper was poisoned by toxic waste. But the sheriff, upon being informed, tells her that that is not enough to prove that there is toxic waste out there. Porter and Cathy realize that they must solve this mystery themselves. They set out, along with Kim, Sandy and Marvin.
Cathy hopes to use Flipper's gift of echolocation
and a special camera she attaches to his head to help them find the toxic waste. Their plan works, and Porter heads back to alert the sheriff. Sandy, who lags behind to say goodbye to Flipper, barely survives an encounter with Dirk Moran's boat, which dismantles the dinghy. He sees a dorsal fin
and thinks it is Flipper (who had previously enjoyed pretending to be a shark). It is actually a hungry Scar, whose food supplies have been depleted by the toxic waste, forcing him to hunt human prey. Flipper appears and starts nose butting Scar in the gills, but the shark is stronger than Flipper. Flipper's pod comes to his aid and, through strength of arms, the dolphins drive Scar away from Sandy. Sandy makes it to Dirk Moran's boat, where the man reveals that he was the one who dumped the toxic waste barrels into the sea. Dirk is just about to kill Sandy when Flipper jumps up and with his tail whacks Dirk right into the sea. The sheriff soon arrives to arrest Dirk. Sandy says one last farewell to Flipper before he swims away with his pod, then leaves Coral Key with his mother and little sister. On the ferry home, Flipper and his pod come to see Sandy off.
noted the scene where a hammerhead shark attacks a seabird, which brings to mind similar footage from National Geographic, may be shocking for very young children.
in a full-screen edition.
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 1963 film of the same name
Flipper (1963 film)
Flipper is an American feature film released on August 14, 1963 written by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, it portrays a 12-year old boy living with his parents on the Florida Keys, who befriends an injured wild dolphin...
, starring Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
and Elijah Wood
Elijah Wood
Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
. The movie is about a boy who has to spend the summer with his uncle Porter (Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan
Paul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
), who lives in the Florida Keys
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...
. Although he expects to have another boring summer, he encounters an orphaned dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
which he names Flipper and with whom he forms a friendship.
Plot
Sandy Ricks (Elijah Wood) is sent off for the summer to stay with his uncle Porter (Paul Hogan) in the seaside town of Coral Key. While out on Porter's fishing trawler, the two meet Porter's arch enemy, Dirk Moran (Jonathan BanksJonathan Banks
Jonathan Ray Banks is an American actor in film and television.Banks was born in Washington, D.C. in 1947. His mother worked for the CIA. Banks attended Indiana University Bloomington where he was a classmate of Kevin Kline...
). Nearby, a pod of dolphins is frolicking near Dirk's boat. As a big game fisherman, Dirk hates just about every other fish eating animal on earth. He shoots at the dolphins because they are eating the fish that he wanted his charter customers to catch. Many escape, but Flipper is separated from the main pod.
One night, Sandy, who plans to return to his home in Chicago, sets off for the docks. While there, he kicks a Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
can into the water. Flipper tosses it back. Sandy repeats this trick several times and begins to feel a connection with the dolphin. Then his ferry arrives. Porter wakes up to find his nephew missing; a neighbor tells him what happened. Porter catches up with the ferry and brings Sandy back to Coral Key. The next morning, they find the devastation left by a hurricane. Porter goes for supplies, leaving Sandy to fix what he can. Sandy is distracted from his work by Flipper. Flipper then meets a girl named Kim (Jessica Wesson
Jessica Wesson
Jessica Wesson is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring role as Jennifer Sudarsky Brad's first girlfriend on the sitcom Home Improvement, and having supporting roles in the Universal films Casper and Flipper in the 1990sIn 1993 and 1997, she was nominated for a Young Artist...
), who tells Sandy that Flipper is lucky to have survived on his own this long, especially with a fearsome hammerhead shark
Hammerhead shark
The hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks in the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a "hammer" shape called a "cephalofoil". Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus Sphyrna while the...
named Scar in the area, who has been terrorizing Coral Key for a long time. While playing, Kim explains that he'll need fish. Sandy starts his own amusement park called the Flipper Show and charges one fish for admission.
Porter arrives home and is furious when he finds out that Sandy has been playing with the dolphin rather than doing what he was meant to, and decides to teach him a lesson by letting him smoke cigars until he throws up. Shortly after this, the sheriff of Coral Key Buck Cowman (Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
) arrives and explains they cannot keep the dolphin. The next day, Flipper is caught by Dirk Moran's men. Porter cuts the rope to release the net. Flipper escapes, but his subsequent and prolonged absence from the area causes Sandy and Kim to set out after him in a dinghy. The two discover a group of people dumping toxic waste
Toxic waste
Toxic waste is waste material that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It spreads quite easily and can contaminate lakes and rivers. The term is often used interchangeably with “hazardous waste”, or discarded material that can pose a long-term risk to health or environment.Toxic waste...
into the sea. Unfortunately, the people are too far away to identify.
The next morning, Kim is on the beach when Pete, Porter's pet brown pelican
Brown Pelican
The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...
, comes running up to her, almost as if asking her to follow him. Pete leads Kim to a dying Flipper. Porter's friend, Cathy (Chelsea Field) and her untalkative son, Marvin (Jason Fuchs) mix up a special medicine, take a blood sample, and release Flipper into the wild. Cathy runs some tests on the blood sample and concludes that Flipper was poisoned by toxic waste. But the sheriff, upon being informed, tells her that that is not enough to prove that there is toxic waste out there. Porter and Cathy realize that they must solve this mystery themselves. They set out, along with Kim, Sandy and Marvin.
Cathy hopes to use Flipper's gift of echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
and a special camera she attaches to his head to help them find the toxic waste. Their plan works, and Porter heads back to alert the sheriff. Sandy, who lags behind to say goodbye to Flipper, barely survives an encounter with Dirk Moran's boat, which dismantles the dinghy. He sees a dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
and thinks it is Flipper (who had previously enjoyed pretending to be a shark). It is actually a hungry Scar, whose food supplies have been depleted by the toxic waste, forcing him to hunt human prey. Flipper appears and starts nose butting Scar in the gills, but the shark is stronger than Flipper. Flipper's pod comes to his aid and, through strength of arms, the dolphins drive Scar away from Sandy. Sandy makes it to Dirk Moran's boat, where the man reveals that he was the one who dumped the toxic waste barrels into the sea. Dirk is just about to kill Sandy when Flipper jumps up and with his tail whacks Dirk right into the sea. The sheriff soon arrives to arrest Dirk. Sandy says one last farewell to Flipper before he swims away with his pod, then leaves Coral Key with his mother and little sister. On the ferry home, Flipper and his pod come to see Sandy off.
Production
The film was shot in the Bahamas. Animatronic dolphins, designed by Walt Conti and his team, had to be used extensively, such as in scenes where Flipper is needed to interact with the human characters, or swimming along; Conti stated that using real dolphins does not work out so well as many might think.Cast
- Elijah WoodElijah WoodElijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...
as Sandy Ricks - Paul HoganPaul HoganPaul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
as Porter Ricks - Jonathan BanksJonathan BanksJonathan Ray Banks is an American actor in film and television.Banks was born in Washington, D.C. in 1947. His mother worked for the CIA. Banks attended Indiana University Bloomington where he was a classmate of Kevin Kline...
as Dirk Moran - Robert Deacon as Bounty Fisherman #1
- Ann Carey as Fisherman's Wife
- Mark Casella as Bounty Fisherman #2
- Luke HalpinLuke HalpinLuke Halpin is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of eight, Halpin is perhaps best known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films Flipper and Flipper's New Adventure, as well as for reprising his role for the television series adaptation, also...
as Bounty Fisherman #3 - Bill Kelley as Tommy
- Chelsea FieldChelsea FieldChelsea Field is an American actress. She played Teela in the 1987 film adaptation of Masters of the Universe. In a break from tradition and He-Man canon, she portrayed Teela as a brunette character wearing a full costume with pants and sleeves.- Personal life :Field has been married to actor...
as Cathy - Jason FuchsJason Fuchs- Early life :Fuchs was born in New York City, to a family of Hasidic Jewish background on his father's side. He went on to enroll and graduate from Columbia University.- Career :...
as Marvin
Reception
Joe Leydon of Variety criticized the plot but appreciated the performances of Hogan, Wood, Wesson, Hayes and Field, as well as the animatronic work on the film. Dwayne E. Leslie of BoxofficeBoxoffice (magazine)
Boxoffice is a film industry magazine dedicated to the movie theatre business published by Boxoffice Media LP. It started in 1920 as The Reel Journal, taking its current name in 1931 and still publishes today, with an intended audience of theatre owners and film professionals.Boxoffice is the...
noted the scene where a hammerhead shark attacks a seabird, which brings to mind similar footage from National Geographic, may be shocking for very young children.
DVD release
The film was released on DVD in 2004 by Universal Studios Home EntertainmentUniversal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...
in a full-screen edition.