Duma (2005)

An orphaned cheetah becomes the best friend and pet of a young boy living in South Africa.

Director:

Carroll Ballard

Writers:

Carol Cawthra Hopcraft (book), Xan Hopcraft (book)

Stars:

Alex Michaeletos, Campbell Scott, Hope Davis

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alex Michaeletos	...	Xan (as Alexander Michaletos)
Campbell Scott	...	Peter
Mary Makhatho	...	Thandi
Nthabiseng Kenoshi	...	Lucille
Hope Davis	...	Kristin
Jennifer Steyn	...	Aunt Gwen
Nicky Rebelo	...	Coach Nagy
Garth Renecle	...	Hock Bender
André Stolz	...	Xan's Teacher
Charlotte Savage	...	Poetry Student
Ronald Shange	...	Policeman
Eamonn Walker	...	Ripkuna
Nadia Kretschmer	...	Tourist #1
John Whiteley	...	Tourist #2
Clive Scott	...	Tourist #3 - Eager Man

Storyline

During a nightly Porsche ride with his doting rascal Xan, white South African farmer Peter finds and adopts an orphaned cheetah cub, dubbed Duma (just Swahili for cheetah). It becomes the boy's inseparable playmate, even taking it to bed. Peter made clear from the start that the cheetah should be returned to the wild before its full adulthood. But the father is stricken down with a disease just before the cheetah could be returned. Xan's mother sells the farm and moves in with a city aunt. The cheetah escapes, but finds Xan at school, where the new boy is bullied. He decides to run away to the mountains with Duma. On the way they face countless perils, which courage, Xan's intelligence and Duma's instinct overcome.

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Plot Keywords:

animal character name as title | one word title | cheetah | boy | africa | 

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Taglines:

Some friendships are wilder than others.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild adventure peril

Did You Know?

Trivia

Duma is played by 6 different Cheetahs. All orphaned or poached Cheetahs themselves; were hand raised in different parts of Africa.

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Quotes

Ripkuna: That is a place of many teeth, my friend.

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Connections

Referenced in Movie Friends: Prashant Prabhakar (2013)

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Soundtracks

Kaboyi, Kaboyi (Woodpecker)
Traditional Swazi Song
Arranged by Philip Miller
Performed by Nana
Courtesy of Worldgoround Records

User Reviews

A must see family movie

Our family saw Duma yesterday and we loved it so much, I had to place our vote today! Congratulations to Carroll Ballard, Warner Brothers and everyone else responsible for creating such a beautifully filmed movie with an equally as wonderful story! Duma is a must see for children; it sure beats most everything else out today in terms of story quality! The cinematography was incredible and all scenes involving animals were wonderfully done. I hope that big studios bring us more movies of this caliber for family entertainment. I for one, and hopefully not the only one, am tired of special effects carrying a movie as well as heroes and villains that are way too out of the ordinary.

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 2005 (UK)

Also Known As:

How It Was with Dooms

Filming Locations:

Botswana

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$870,067

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$994,790

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaylord Films, John Wells Productions, Pandora Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1