''When Zachary Beaver Came to Town'' is a 2003 American
comedy-drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan William Lipnicki (born October 22, 1990) is an American actor who is known for his roles as a child actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999) and its 2002 sequel '' Stuart Little 2'', '' ...
and
Cody Linley
Cody Martin Linley (born November 20, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He played a recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series ''Hannah Montana'', and was a contestant on the seventh season of ''Dancing with the Stars'', in which ...
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
-winning children's novel of the same name by
Kimberly Willis Holt
Kimberly Willis Holt is an American writer of children's literature. She is best known for the novel ''When Zachary Beaver Came to Town'', which won the 1999 U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature."National Book Awards – 1999"
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...
. Retrieved 2011-10-14. (With acceptance speech by Willis Holt.)
Plot
One summer in the small, sleepy town of
Granger, Texas
Granger is a city in Williamson County, Texas, United States. It was incorporated in 1891. The population was 1,183 at the 2020 census.
History
In the late 19th century, Granger was one of the centers of the large Moravian Czech immigrant popul ...
, Toby Wilson's life changes. Toby (
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan William Lipnicki (born October 22, 1990) is an American actor who is known for his roles as a child actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999) and its 2002 sequel '' Stuart Little 2'', '' ...
) is a boy who lives with his parents, but his mother runs off to Nashville to try to become a singer. Later, he and his best friend Cal McKnight (
Cody Linley
Cody Martin Linley (born November 20, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He played a recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series ''Hannah Montana'', and was a contestant on the seventh season of ''Dancing with the Stars'', in which ...
) meet a fat sideshow freak named Zachary Beaver (
Sasha Neulinger
Sasha Joseph Neulinger (born 1989) is an American actor and director born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Filmography
*'' Camp Hell'' as Jimmy
*'' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as Charlie Monaghan (1 episode, 2005)
*''When Zachary Beaver Ca ...
), who has no parents or friends. Zachary, "The Fattest Boy Ever," spends most of his time in a small, silver trailer; he is abandoned by his legal guardian, Paulie Rankin, so auliecan look for new additions to their circus. Toby and Cal get to know him, and slowly become friends with him.
They cope with the loss of Cal's brother, Wayne, who was recruited for the Vietnam War and later dies, leaving Cal devastated. Toby had been sending letters to Wayne pretending to be Cal until Wayne is killed, and Toby finally tells him this which leads to a fight between the two. Meanwhile, Toby is in Zachary's trailer during the funeral and Cal shows up. He gives Toby all the money he ever borrowed and tells him his mom is never coming back, just like Wayne. Later, Toby gives a country girl he likes a necklace, which was his mother's, but she gives it back to him because she likes someone else and doesn't like Toby that way. Earlier, Toby got to dance with her after her boyfriend broke up with her. Cal and Toby become friends after Toby chases him down to a lake soon after. In the end, they help Zachary get baptized in Gossimer Lake with the alcoholic preacher/cook owner of a local cafe, Ferris, who once studied to be a priest; later Paulie returns with circus performers to retrieve him. Zachary leaves town with them, and Cal and Toby's friendship is reaffirmed.
Production
In order to play the role of Toby, Jonathan Lipnicki attempted to gain the rights to the book when he was only ten years old, but was unsuccessful. He was later cast after he agreed to work with director John Schultz on the film ''
Like Mike
''Like Mike'' is a 2002 American sports comedy film directed by John Schultz and written by Michael Elliot and Jordan Moffet. Starring Lil' Bow Wow, Morris Chestnut, Jonathan Lipnicki, Robert Forster, Crispin Glover and Eugene Levy, the film fol ...
Granger
Granger may refer to:
People
*Granger (name)
*Hermione Granger, a fictional character in Harry Potter
United States
* Granger, Indiana
* Granger, Iowa
* Granger, Minnesota
* Granger, Missouri
* Granger, New York
* Granger, Ohio
* Granger, Te ...
in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
.
Cast
*
Jonathan Lipnicki
Jonathan William Lipnicki (born October 22, 1990) is an American actor who is known for his roles as a child actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Jerry Maguire'' (1996), ''Stuart Little'' (1999) and its 2002 sequel '' Stuart Little 2'', '' ...
as Toby A thirteen Year old boy.
*
Cody Linley
Cody Martin Linley (born November 20, 1989) is an American actor and singer. He played a recurring role as Jake Ryan in the television series ''Hannah Montana'', and was a contestant on the seventh season of ''Dancing with the Stars'', in which ...
as Cal
* Jesse Pennington as Wayne
*
Sasha Joseph Neulinger
Sacha, Sasha, Sascha, or ''variant'' may refer to:
People
* Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha
Musicians
* Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alexander Coe
* Sasha (German singer) (born 1972), born Sas ...
as Zachary Beaver
*
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski (; ; born October 11, 1968) is an American actress, comedienne, and singer. She is best known for her starring role as Jenna Maroney in the NBC satirical comedy series ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013, 2020), for which she received four ...