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Meet the Crew and the Critters! A Complete Guide to the Zookeeper Cast and Voices!
Zookeeper (2011), starring the comedic powerhouseKevin James, is a wild ride! This fun family movie is aboutGriffin Keyes (James), a zookeeper facing a midlife crisis, questioning his love life and even his whole career. But things get way more interesting when he learns the animals at his zoo can talk—offering some hilariously bad dating advice. The overall quality is a bit uneven but this still makes for surprisingly good comedic entertainment for audiences looking for such material. What’s truly exceptional about this particular release however remains the talented ensemble behindZookeeper. It’s not just the human cast! Those furry, feathered, and scaled stars provide surprisingly memorable vocal performances; even the ones who didn’t have spoken dialogue and mostly focused on actions! Let’s dive into this fun movie cast; including this amazing cast of animal actors too! Many might have never guessed who's behind the voices (and physical appearances).
Kevin James stars as the well-meaning but hapless Griffin Keyes; this guy gets an incredibly important story. He’s deeply devoted to the zoo's animals; creating a critical bond that provides meaning for this entire story arc and its significance. James’ comedic timing works really well in this movie; which focuses primarily on family entertainment. The sheer variety of projects which he took on makes it clear just why this extremely talented actor achieved significant levels of success within that period and audience.
This movie shows another connection with his frequent collaboratorAdam Sandler, producing manyJames's projects and boosting his profile as the leading man in comedic ventures.You know those names?
Rosario Dawson brings charm to the movie; playing the delightful vet,Kate! She’s intelligent, empathetic and a kind person who ultimately gets the better relationship with James's main character. Dawson is another extremely experienced and versatile performer: Known from multiple iconic franchises, likeMarvel (Nurse Claire Temple),Star Wars(Ahsoka Tano) andSin City; she truly stands out even when those things that should make someone exceptional are ignored entirely!
Leslie Bibb is the perfectly villainous ex-girlfriendStephanie, and is another critically recognized actor. She provides those levels of antagonists that make most stories more exciting and this performance doesn’t miss either! It isn’t hard to recognize that she's played various major characters in iconic stories like Iron Manand Jupiter’s Legacy.
The greatNick Noltebrings deep emotion as the insightfulBernie; the gorilla who was abused and shut off for a time within a smaller enclosure at that location inFranklin Park Zoo. His past shows both the terrible consequences and that the capacity for love and forgiveness are very possible despite various traumas. Nolte is a legend (that Oscar-nominated role in Warrior) adding even more intensity to that surprising depth within a usually simple kids-movie.
The legendarySylvester Stallone? Yes! The tough guyvoicesJoe, a big cat with a tough-love approach.Stallone’s incredible performance; his strong and impressive ability to transition even from action hero (those iconicRamboandRockyroles) truly shows that diversity in acting skills helps with many different roles.
Adam Sandler, yet another prominent figure, is that amazingly smooth-talking monkeyDonald. The voice acting performance here adds an unexpectedly subtle presence within those smaller roles that he takes on occasionally that show incredible versatility! Sandler was one of the movie's producers– so his involvement isn’t that unexpected! Remember that incredibly skilled monkey actressCrystal (The Hangover)? That'sDonald's physical performer.
The famousJoe Rogan? Yup. He playsStephanie'stoxic exGale! An unusual acting role compared to most of his roles, as he tends to portray more “self” type roles – he played someone quite distinct!
Oscar-winning screenwriterNat Faxonbrings humor toDave Keyes; he's Griffin'sbrother. He doesn't add anything deeply significant; his appearance serves as that comedic support character to show how different that fraternal bond truly could be.
The unbelievably comedicKen Jeong, is that somewhat socially awkward reptile house employeeVenom. It highlights that unique comic timing that Jeong brought to other famous roles (those amazingHangoverfilms andCommunity'sBen Chang). It’s awesome seeing Jeong and Crystalthe monkey from The Hangover II once again.
Let's give a shout-out to some additional actors!Steffiana de la Cruz,James'swife plays Robin Keyes (his brotherDave’sfiancée). The extremely popularDonnie Wahlberg isShane (the very cruel zookeeper); the belovedJon Favreau(Iron Mandirector andHappy Hogan) isJerome(the bear);Cheris the equally awesome lionessJanet;Faizon LovevoicesBruce(a bear); andMaya Rudolphis the friendly giraffeMollie. And who can forgetJudd Apatow(Knocked Up,Trainwreck) as the elephantBarry andBas Rutten asSebastian, along with the classic stand-up comedianDon Rickles(Toy Story) asJim(that very funny frog), andJim Breuer (fromHalf Baked) who brings an appropriately crazed performance toSpike(a crow).
Zookeeper's success demonstrates the massive value provided by talented casts of both actors and other personalities including both comedic veterans and incredibly gifted voice actors too; providing a completely successful family friendly experience.Each characterwhether big or small added to that whole story and provided unique flavor. Those unexpected cameo moments, from producers to voice-acting icons who would bring some amazing perspectives and abilities show some truly intelligent casting choices and truly excellent casting which deserves all the awards; it was ultimately this brilliant collection of very diverse talents and their individual performance within such a small comedic family film, is what truly set the story in stone.