DVD Review: Because of Winn-Dixie (girl, dog, small southern town, summer)

DVD Review:  Because of Winn-Dixie with AnnaSophia Robb, Jeff Daniels, Eva Marie Saint, and Cicely Tyson (2011,106 minutes, PG), based on the book by Kate DiCamillo (review includes quotes from the movie)

Almost Every Kid in the World Needs a Dog

Especially a 10-year-old girl without a mother. . . .

A preacher father and his young girl move to a small Southern town where it’s hard to make friends in the summer. Winn-Dixie (named after the food market where they first met) is Opal’s only but constant friend and gets into one scrape after another to keep you laughing.

Blind Cicely Tyson – not a witch as the town kids believe but Cicely Tyson with a bottle tree that makes rainbows and music in the wind. She is befriended by Opal and her dog: “Would you like to be friends – you and me and Winn-Dixie?” (and the bunnies and the monkey and the goat and the chicken and the mice and the ducks and the birds who listen to folk songs).

A Children’s Film for Adults. . . .

Kate DiCamillo, transplanted from Florida to Minnesota and homesick in the cold and snow, turned to writing. This, her first novel, was recognized with a Newbery Honor (2001) for children’s literature and Winn-Dixie is now taught in schools across the nation.

The whole family enjoys several children’s books or movies but Winn-Dixie has layers upon layers for kids and for their grown-ups (note Opal’s drawing of the town at three different points in her story): not just a family film but a different kind of enjoyment and memories for both the young and the older – each time they view it.

The Dog who Always Smiles

That dog is magic! He slips and skids in the Winn-Dixie and in church, a convenience store (how convenient!)

You know how dogs are. At the end of the day, no matter what happens, a dog will always love you.

“Big, Furry, Stinky” as the “Found Dog” signs said (before Opal took them down, hoping nobody would claim Winn-Dixie so she could have him for her very own). He found her.

What on earth is a Picardy Shepherd?

A Berger Picard, of course. Five were imported from France for the movie since there were none in the US. The AKC recognized this breed for the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in February of 2016.

“Ten things about my mother, before she left us.” Ten things about Winn-Dixie. Both of them leave. . . .

A Time When Kids Went Barefoot in the Summer

The music is reminiscent of the South, lazy South in the good old summertime, complete with single instrumentals (and crotchety old ladies). Winn-Dixie is slapstick, Winn-Dixie is southern – if you liked To Kill a Mockingbird, you will love Winn-Dixie, a new classic.

Little towns have big secrets. Naomi, Florida, used to have a candy factory but it was shut down. Each Littmus lozenge tastes different to different people – some said it tastes melancholy. Some said it tastes sad - or like music.

A coming of age story but the wise ones know you have to learn the most important thing on your own. Nobody can tell you things like you can’t hold onto something that wants to go. You just have to love him while he’s here.

Everything good that happened that summer, happened because of Winn-Dixie.

Was it really because of Winn-Dixie or was it because of Opal? She is like a butterfly, the special little girl who turns the whole town around and turns hatred into family as she discovers that sadness is for sharing but so is joy.

(And for the dog trainers, separation anxiety and thunderphobia.)