<P> We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American family comedy - drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee . It was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as widowed father Benjamin Mee , who purchases a dilapidated zoo with his family and takes on the challenge of preparing the zoo for its reopening to the public . The film also stars Scarlett Johansson , Maggie Elizabeth Jones , Thomas Haden Church , Patrick Fugit , Elle Fanning , Colin Ford , and John Michael Higgins . The film was released in the United States on December 23 , 2011 by 20th Century Fox . The film earned $120.1 million on a $50 million budget . We Bought a Zoo was released on DVD and Blu - ray on April 3 , 2012 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . Dartmoor Zoological Park ( originally Dartmoor Wildlife Park ) , on which the film is based , is a 33 - acre zoological garden located near the village of Sparkwell , Devon , England . </P>
<P> We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American family comedy - drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee . It was written and directed by Cameron Crowe and stars Matt Damon as widowed father Benjamin Mee , who purchases a dilapidated zoo with his family and takes on the challenge of preparing the zoo for its reopening to the public . The film also stars Scarlett Johansson , Maggie Elizabeth Jones , Thomas Haden Church , Patrick Fugit , Elle Fanning , Colin Ford , and John Michael Higgins . The film was released in the United States on December 23 , 2011 by 20th Century Fox . The film earned $120.1 million on a $50 million budget . We Bought a Zoo was released on DVD and Blu - ray on April 3 , 2012 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . Dartmoor Zoological Park ( originally Dartmoor Wildlife Park ) , on which the film is based , is a 33 - acre zoological garden located near the village of Sparkwell , Devon , England . </P>
where is the real we bought a zoo located
where is the real we bought a zoo located
Sparkwell , Devon , England
Sparkwell , Devon , England