Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)

A mischievous dog befriends a lonely young girl in a new town and helps her make new friends.

Director:

Wayne Wang

Writers:

Kate DiCamillo (novel), Joan Singleton (screenplay)

Stars:

AnnaSophia Robb, Jeff Daniels, Eva Marie Saint

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Opal
Jeff Daniels	...	Preacher
Cicely Tyson	...	Gloria
Dave Matthews	...	Otis
Eva Marie Saint	...	Miss Franny
Courtney Jines	...	Amanda Wilkinson
Nick Price	...	Dunlap Dewberry
Luke Benward	...	Stevie Dewberry
Elle Fanning	...	Sweetie Pie Thomas
Marca Price	...	Mrs. Dewberry
Lenore Banks	...	Mrs. Detweller
B.J. Hopper	...	Mr. Alfred
John McConnell	...	Store Manager
Harland Williams	...	Policeman
William Arthur Pitts	...	Churchgoer 1

Storyline

A girl named Opal move to a new home that is a trailer park. She has no friends and her dad is always doing something.Her dad told her to go to Winn Dixie to get some food. When she get there, something is going on. People were chasing something, then she see a dog. The dog was happy, he jumped on the manager, and the manager told his workers to call the pound. Opal did not want the dog to go to the pound, so she said the doog was hers. She named the dog Winn Dixie, the place where she found him. She goes home to ask her dad can she keep the dog. Opal dad lets her keep the dog she make a lot more friends that summer. She almost lost Winn Dixie in a thunderstorm at a party. Opal and Winn Dixie make friends with the kids at her church and old people smart and wise. Opal learns a lesson that you can't hold on to people who does not want to be held on to.

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Plot Keywords:

girl | dog | supermarket | small town | dog movie | 

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Taglines:

Discover what happens when you go looking for a miracle and a miracle comes looking for you.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements and brief mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Because of Winn-Dixie

Filming Locations:

Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,208,431, 20 February 2005

Gross USA:

$32,647,042

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,589,427

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Walden Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Wayne Wang wanted to use Picardy Shepherds because he thought they looked similar to the depiction of Winn-Dixie on the book cover and would appear familiar to its readers. Dogs were brought from France when none were available in the U.S. (08:55 in the DVD commentary).

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Goofs

The "mouse" Winn Dixie catches during the church service is a rat.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Opal: Safe!
[she hears a church bell and rushes to get to church on her bike]
Opal: [narrating] In the beginning, when we moved to Naomi, it was just the preacher and me. Only sometimes - most of the time, really - it seemed like it was me alone. And then, one morning, the preacher sent me to the store for a box of macaroni and cheese, some white rice and two tomatoes. And after that, everything changed. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's a good story. Let me tell it right.

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Connections

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

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Soundtracks

Sunrise
Written by Norah Jones and Lee Alexander
Performed by Norah Jones
Courtesy of Blue Note Records, a divsion of Capitol Records, Inc.
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

A dog story that will make you smile

Opal (AnnaSophia Robb), is a 10-year-old girl who has just moved to a small town in Florida with her preacher father (Jeff Daniels). The move has caused Opal to lose all her friends, and now she must start all over again. Life has been a little tough for Opal, since her mother abandoned them when she was three. Opal's father asks her to pick up a few items for dinner at the Winn-Dixie supermarket. While in the store, a big dog is running loose in the store with clerks chasing after him. The store manager wants to call the dog pound, but Opal says that the dog is hers, and his name is Winn-Dixie. Opal take the dog home, and must convince her father to keep the dog. He agrees to keep the dog temporarily, until a new owner can be found. They go around town putting up posters of the dog, and later in the day Opal goes around and takes the posters down, because she secretly wants to keep the dog. Opal discovers that Winn-Dixie is able to make friends with everyone he meets, and now Opal has some new friends, because of Winn-Dixie. This is a good heartfelt story of the bond between a little girl and her dog. The story shows that a dog can bring happiness to a lonely girl and open up hearts of the people in town. I don't know how they did it, but the dog can actually smile. You can take your children to see this touching story. (20th Century Fox, Run time 1:46, Rated PG) (7/10)