The White Bone (film)

The White Bone is a 2011 American adventure-drama film directed by Philip Noyce. It is based on the 1999 Canadian novel of the same name by Barbara Gowdy. In

the film, Mud, or She-Spurns, an African Elephant, is adapted after the death of her mother. Her new herd is trying to avoid drought and poachers to get to the titular "White Bone," to find the "Safe Place."

It features the voices of Tiffany Grant, Veronica Taylor, Michael Hogan, Juliette Binoche, Katie Holmes, Zoe Saldaña, Christopher Lee, Erica Lutterell, Liam Knight, Rupert Grint, John Boyega and Frances McDormand. The White Bone premiered in the 68th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2011, and released in the United States on September 5, 2011, to positive reviews, with critics praising the faithfulness to the novel, music and voice acting. It grossed $70 million but was beat by The Ides of March the following month. Among some of accolades The White Bone was nominated for was for the Best Adapted Screenplay during the 84th Academy Awards, but was beat by The Descendants (2011).

Plot
In Africa, a baby African Elephant named Mud is born, but is abandoned as her mother was killed by a snake. Another family of Elephants, the "She-S," adapt her.

(TBA)

Cast
· Tiffany Grant as Mud (She-Spruns)

· Veronica Taylor as Date Bed

· Michael Hogan as Tall Time

· Juliette Binoche as She-Snorts

· Katie Holmes as She-Soothes

· Zoe Saldaña as She-Screams

· Christopher Lee as Torrent

· Erica Lutterell as Me-Me

· Liam Knight as Bent

· Rupert Grint as Hail Stones

· John Boyega as Swamp

· Frances McDormand as She-Scares

Production
Development of the film began in 2002, with a script written by November of that year, but was temporarily cancelled for several from 2003-2007.

In 2007, the rights to the novel we're bought by The Weinstein Company and Walden Media. In 2009, the new script by Tom Bidwell and David Callaham, was finally greenlit in March 2009.

Principal photography began in December 2009 and was complete in August 2010. In edition to live action elephants, CGI generated elephants we're created by the Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Double Negative (DNEG).

Music
The score for The White Bone was composed by Shiro Sagisu. Philip Noyce originally wanted James Newton Howard to compose the score as he did so for his score for Noyce's previous film, Salt (2010). However, Newton Howard was busy scoring Water for Elephants (2011), The Green Hornet (2011) and several other films the same year. Noyce hired Shiro Sagisu after being impressed with his music for Musa (2001). The soundtrack was released on September 6, 2011, and sold 10,576 copies in just 3 weeks.

Release
(TBA)

Reception
The film received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 100 reviews and an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A film that respects it's source material by bringing it to life in a serious but epic adventure in the vein of Watership Down." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 78 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Roger Ebert gave the film four put of four stars, saying that "it captures the wonder of nature while delivering a great story as well."