Flipper (1996)

Director:

Alan Shapiro

Writers (WGA):

Ricou Browning (story) and
Jack Cowden (story) ...

Release Date:

17 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure

Tagline:

This summer it's finally safe to go back in the water.

Plot:

Sandy Ricks is sent by his mom to Coral Key, a rustic island in the Florida keys, to spend the summer with his uncle Porter Ricks...

Plot Keywords:

Uncle | Summer | Florida Keys | Dolphin | Florida

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Sandy Ricks
Paul Hogan	...	Porter Ricks
Jonathan Banks	...	Dirk Moran
Robert Deacon	...	Bounty Fisherman #1
Ann Carey	...	Fisherman's Wife
Mark Casella	...	Bounty Fisherman #2
Luke Halpin	...	Bounty Fisherman #3
Bill Kelley	...	Tommy
Chelsea Field	...	Cathy
Jason Fuchs	...	Marvin
Lindsay Treco	...	Little Girl
Jessica Wesson	...	Kim
Mal Jones	...	Russ
Louis Seeger Crume	...	Mr. Dunnahy
Bill Nolan	...	Bartender

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | DTS-Stereo (35 mm prints) | DTS (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG (certificate #34460) | Brazil:Livre | South Korea:All | Finland:S | Germany:6 (w) | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

Company:

American Films

Trivia:

Director Alan Shapiro originally wanted 'an entirely unknown' for the role of 'Kim'. However, felt that most of the girls that screen tested with Elijah Wood were too 'giggly'. He decided to cast someone with more experience.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Sandy is awaken by Flipper on the dock, by Flipper splashing him, his hair goes from barely wet to soaked.

Quotes:

Sandy Ricks: What do you want? I'm from Chicago, it's not like there were street signs.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#30.9)" (2003)

Worse than I remember it being

I saw this when it came out in theaters back in 1996. I remember I was already familiar with Elijah Wood's work (that's right, he made stuff before "Lord of the Rings"!) and the merchandising tie-ins to the film were pretty abundant ("Flipper" water guns were even circulating).

Adults were reminded of the old movies and TV show and for nostalgia's sake took their kids to see it, who were excited because it was a movie about a dolphin and a stupid boy.

Unfortunately it wasn't what anyone expected and flopped severely. You know a movie's in trouble when a boy swims away from a Hammerhead shark in the middle of the ocean, and a pack of dolphins scare the shark away, and the kid -- instead of getting out of the water into a boat -- floats in the water for five minutes thanking his dolphin for saving him ... apparently he hasn't taken into mind that the shark is still out there, perhaps even below him.

Another problem is Paul Hogan. He looks old, crusty and tired of recycling his Croc Dundee shtick. By now, no one even remembered "Crocodile Dundee" much less Hogan, and I half expected him to suddenly start pretending he didn't know what a hair dryer was for the sake of fish-out-of-water/social-satire laughs.

All in all this is a really poor "family" movie that is amateurish and almost hard to watch at times. I hated it when I saw it in theaters back in '96 and I hate it more now.