Dolphin Tale 2 Information

Dolphin Tale 2 is a 2014 American family drama film written and directed by Charles Martin Smith and sequel to his 2011 film Dolphin Tale. Harry Connick, Jr., Ashley Judd, Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman, Juliana Harkavy, Austin Stowell and Austin Highsmith all reprise their roles from the first film while Lee Karlinsky, Julia Jordan, and Bethany Hamilton join the cast. The film was released on September 12, 2014 and tells the story of another dolphin at the hospital named "Hope".

Plot

The film opens with a young girl named Mandy playing on the beach. She suddenly spots a stranded dolphin struggling on the shore. Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) staff and volunteers rush to rescue the dolphin who is later named "Mandy" after the little girl who found her.

Sawyer, the boy who was once instrumental in saving "Winter" three years ago, is now an integral employee at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, and is training new volunteers at the aquarium. Mandy has a bad sunburn and some respiratory problems from being stranded in the sun too long with her blowhole mostly exposed. She is being rehabilitated at the aquarium.

Winter has a friend at CMA named Panama. Like Winter, Panama cannot return to the ocean. Panama is deaf and is quite old for a dolphin. She is expected to be at least 40 years old. It is alluded to that Panama has some health issues and it appears by Winter's erratic actions that she is concerned about her dolphin friend. Sawyer is approached by a professor from Boston University about attending an elite SEA Semester program for three months. Only one high school student per year is selected for this program, which takes place on a tall sailing ship and focuses on marine mammal research. It comes with a full scholarship and his family is excited for him to have this opportunity. Sawyer is unsure whether he wants to go, as he is concerned about leaving Winter for an extended period of time.

When Sawyer returns to the aquarium, Panama is lying dead at the bottom of the pool. Her death happened very quickly, but does not come as a complete surprise because of her old age. All of the employees of CMA are very upset. However, the death is the hardest on Winter. Winter stops eating much and refuses to wear her prosthetic tail. Her health starts to deteriorate for these reasons and tests show she is under stress. An inspector for the USDA comes to visit CMA and check on the animals. He gives Dr. Clay a violation for keeping Winter in isolation and because of her deteriorating health. He issues as requirement that Dr. Clay matches Winter with another female dolphin within 30 days. In the meantime, Winter continues to be very unhappy. When Sawyer attempts to get her out of the tank for a new cast of her tail, Winter becomes aggressive and smacks Sawyer across the face with her rostrum, knocking him in the water. Phoebe jumps in the pool and rescues Sawyer. Winter then returns to floating at the bottom of the platform. The incident leaves Sawyer's wrist injured, and a small bruise on his face. Dr. Clay orders that Sawyer has to take a break from swimming with Winter.

Everyone at CMA stakes their hopes on Winter being paired together with Mandy in order to satisfy the USDA and improve Winter's health. However, Mandy has improved greatly and has a clean bill of health. Dr. Clay says Mandy can be returned to the ocean. Dr. Clay's daughter Hazel is unhappy because she doesn't want Winter to be transferred. She wants Mandy to stay with Winter for a short period of time to keep her from being transferred, even though she can return to the ocean. Dr. Clay makes clear that the goal of CMA is "Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release", thus they cannot morally keep Mandy when she could return to the ocean. He has to make the call to return Mandy to the ocean, even though it becomes clear that doing so will cause CMA to lose Winter. Mandy is returned to the ocean and Hazel steps up to take a key role in her return.

Hazel and Sawyer break Dr. Clay's rule and swim with Winter. The dolphin seems improved and is no longer aggressive. Sawyer and Hazel think she is improving. Dr. Clay then catches them and scolds them for swimming with Winter. Knowing he has bigger problems, he changes the subject and tells Hazel and Sawyer that Winter will be transferred to a marine park in Texas. Meanwhile, Sawyer's mom throws a party for him to congratulate him for being chosen to attend SEA Semester. However she wants to push him towards a decision but Sawyer is still too upset about Winter. While Sawyer is sitting outside, Dr. McCarthy sits next to him and gives him a small clock, but due to it sitting around for many years, it does not work well and has to be tapped to have it ticking again. Dr. McCarthy uses this as an example and tells Sawyer that he has to "shake it up now and then" and try other things in life.

During the party, Dr. Clay gets a call. A juvenile female dolphin has been rescued and is headed to the hospital. Everyone leaves the party and rushes to CMA to prepare for the arriving dolphin. Dr. Clay, Sawyer, Hazel and the trainers know this is the hope to keep Winter at CMA. When the dolphin arrives, it is revealed to be very young and can not return to the ocean since it has not learned to hunt yet. They name the tiny dolphin "Hope." Also, the team at CMA also rescued a sea turtle (Hazel names her "Mavis") who was found under a dock at CMA by Sawyer and Hazel. When she was found, Mavis was stuck in some fishing line. A pesky pelican named Rufus seems obsessed with the sea turtle. Rufus follows the sea turtle everywhere, even to a hospital (for humans) where Mavis gets a CT Scan. When Mavis is released into the ocean, Rufus flies over him as the sea turtle swims away.

Dr. Clay gets an extension to keep Winter from being transferred with the addition of Hope at CMA. The first time they put the two dolphins together, Hope's echolocation senses that Winter has no tail and moves differently. This causes Hope to freak out and swim at high speeds around the perimeter of the pool. Winter then lashes out at Hope, though it doesn't injure her. The employees then quickly separate the animals.

The staff of the CMA look at the video to see what went wrong. After seeing the tape, they realize Hope freaked out (thus freaking Winter out) due to her swimming. Sawyer realizes that a prosthetic tail might help. Everybody argues about the advantages and disadvantages of the idea. Dr. Clay then asks Sawyer what he thinks. Sawyer explains that they should give it a try. Everyone agrees and decides to go with the plan.

Dr. McCarthy designed another prosthetic tail for Winter that looks even more realistic than her previous tail. In their second meeting, Winter wears the tail. Things once again get a bit rough, but eventually, the two dolphins accept each other. Everyone rejoices that Winter will get to stay at CMA now that she has a friend (and sister) and will no longer be isolated and lonely. With Winter's improvement, Sawyer decides to go to go to the SEA Semester.

On the way to the SEA Semester program, Hazel (standing on the roof of the aquarium) releases balloons for him as he passes by and sends him a text saying that she will miss him. The two then wave goodbye and Rufus the pelican returns to the aquarium.

Before the credits roll, actual footage of Mandy's release is shown, as well as footage of Hope's rescue, and a sea turtle's release. There is also footage of Winter wearing the new prosthetic tail. Footage of amputees interacting with Winter is shown as well.

Cast

• Harry Connick, Jr. as Dr. Clay Haskett
• Ashley Judd as Lorraine Nelson
• Nathan Gamble as Sawyer Nelson
• Kris Kristofferson as Reed Haskett
• Cozi Zuehlsdorff as Hazel Haskett
• Morgan Freeman a Dr. Cameron McCarthy
• Denisea Wilson as Julia
• Julia Jordan as Mandy
• Austin Stowell as Kyle Connellan
• Juliana Harkavy as Rebecca
• Austin Highsmith as Phoebe
• Lee Karlinsky as Troy
• Taylor Blackwell as Susie
• Winter as herself
• Hope as herself
• Bethany Hamilton as herself

Production

Filming began on October 7, 2013, at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida.

Although they were filming on the site, Clearwater Marine Aquarium is open on weekends to the public. Cozi Zuehlsdorff has tweeted on her Twitter account that she is excited that Bethany Hamilton has joined the "Dolphin Tale 2 family".

According to Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO, David Yates, filming ended on January 22, 2014. It was released on September 12, 2014.

Marketing

The film's first teaser trailer was released on April 11, 2014, attached with theatrical screenings of Rio 2. A second trailer was released on June 13, attached with How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Reception

Critical reception

Dolphin Tale 2 received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 69%, based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10; the consensus states: "Much like its predecessor, Dolphin Tale 2 offers animal antics and sweet, old-fashioned drama that the whole family can enjoy. Rolling Stone says it gets better at the end credits with come and get your love playing" On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 58 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Home media

Dolphin Tale 2 will be released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital media on December 9, 2014.

Possible sequel

Yates said there are more inspiring stories like Winter"?s and Hope's tales, and is presently working on concepts for Dolphin Tale 3.