Fly Away Home
Short description
Fly Away Home follows thirteen-year-old Amy, whose mother dies in a car accident, sending her to live in rural Ontario with her father, an inventor she hardly knows. Struggling in her new surroundings, Amy finds purpose when she rescues a clutch of abandoned goose eggs from land being cleared nearby. The goslings hatch and imprint on her, treating her as their mother, which leaves her with a problem: the birds never learned to migrate, and winter in Canada will kill them if they stay. Amy and her father devise a plan to teach the geese to fly and then lead them south themselves.
The film was directed by Carroll Ballard, its fourth feature following The Black Stallion and Wind. Robert Rodat and Vince McKewin wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Jeff Daniels as Amy's father Thomas, Anna Paquin as Amy, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney, Holter Graham and Jeremy Ratchford, among roughly forty credited performers.
Made by Columbia Pictures and Sandollar Productions on a budget of about 22 million dollars, it earned around 25 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.9 from 29,000 votes, while TMDB users give it 7 out of 10 from 528 votes. A critics' rating of 7.2 from 46 reviews places it slightly above the audience scores. It runs 107 minutes and blends family drama with adventure.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's release was delayed due to the death of Jessica Whitney Dubroff (1988-1996) – an American trainee pilot who died while attempting to become the youngest aviator to make a transcontinental flight. Her father and instructor, who were also on board the Cessna 177, also perished. Dubroff did not have a pilot's license at the time of the flight. According to experts, the crash was caused by bad weather and the aircraft being overloaded.
- Approximately midway through filming, Anna Paquin appeared on set with a ring in her nose (reportedly having gotten a piercing; no one but her knew the ring was a prop). This was her way of expressing her rebellious spirit. She found the ring in a jewelry shop in Toronto, and the seller didn't even charge her for it. To her disappointment, the nose ring was met with indifference, and director Carroll Ballard even managed to incorporate its appearance into the film.
- According to the plot, Anna Paquin's character grew up in New Zealand and moved to Canada after her mother's death. In reality, Paquin was born in Canada and then moved to New Zealand.
- The film is based on the life of Bill Lishman, a Canadian inventor and artist, who wondered if geese and other birds could learn new migration routes by following an ultralight aircraft.
- Igor crashes into the glider piloted by Amy. This scene was filmed in parts, using both a real goose and a computer-generated goose. The scene was shot in front of a blue screen.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
