Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

Director:

Doug Atchison

Writer (WGA):

Doug Atchison (written by)

Release Date:

28 April 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

Changing the world... one word at a time.

Plot:

A young girl from South Los Angeles tries to make it to the National Spelling Bee.

Plot Keywords:

Spelling | Spelling Bee | Principal | African American | School Principal

Awards:

8 wins & 12 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Dec. 17	8:00 PM	DISN
Fri. Dec. 18	12:00 PM	DISN

Cast

Keke Palmer	...	Akeelah
Laurence Fishburne	...	Dr. Larabee
Angela Bassett	...	Tanya
Curtis Armstrong	...	Mr. Welch
J.R. Villarreal	...	Javier (as JR Villarreal)
Sean Michael	...	Dylan (as Sean Michael Afable)
Sahara Garey	...	Georgia
Lee Thompson Young	...	Devon
Julito McCullum	...	Terrence
Erica Hubbard	...	Kiana
Eddie Steeples	...	Derrick-T
Dalia Phillips	...	Ms. Cross
Tzi Ma	...	Mr. Chiu
Jeris Poindexter	...	Steve (as Jeris Lee Poindexter)
Sara Niemietz	...	Polly

Also Known As:

A som i Akeelah (Sweden) [sv]
Akeelah contra todos (Spain) [es]
Akeelah i jej nauczyciel (Poland) [pl]
Akeelah ist die Größte (Germany) [de]
Akeelah y las letras (Argentina) (DVD title) [es]
Betüvetö (Hungary) [hu]
Dreams Come True (Japan) (DVD title) [ja]
Kaikki alkaa A:sta (Finland) [fi]
Prova de Fogo (Brazil) [pt]
Syllavizontas to oneiro (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Una parola per un sogno (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some language.

Runtime:

USA:112 min | Argentina:112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (PCA #42313) | UK:12A | Singapore:PG | Ireland:PG | Canada:G (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-3 | Australia:PG | UK:PG (re-rating) (2007)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Out of the Blue... Entertainment

Trivia:

Among the spelling words in the film are: prestidigitation, ambidextrous, pterodactyl, pulchritude, pastiche, xanthosis, cabalistic, soliterraneous, grandiloquent, catastasis, endentulous, quinquevir, bioluminescent, objugatory, kookaburra, effervescible, quiddity, pyrophanous, mountebank, numismatics, arboriculture, argillaceous, serpiginous, and logorrhea.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Javier is giving the play-by-play for the Scrabble game at his birthday party, after the word "funnel" is played, he says "Akeelah is in the lead by 12 points." The "12" is noticeably overdubbed; Javier's lips appear to be saying "seven."

Quotes:

Akeelah: I'm naturally inquisitive.
Dr. Larabee: Yes, which is also sometimes confused with being naturally obnoxious.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Colbert Report: Frank Rich (#2.61)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Effervescent

A "One of a Million" Film indeed!

Akeelah and the Bee was a film in which not only inspired me as an individual, but specifically a young Black male individual. Finally, a film in which Black males running around shooting guns and sexing/ mistreating women. A film in which shows a young Black girl coming from an urban neighborhood, raised by a single mother, but still motivated and inspired to use her gift of spelling to the highest degree. During my time watching this film: my emotions were overwhelmed with a sense of positive energy in which inspired me to be motivated to continue doing my best in life: not settling for excuses for where I grew up, the failures I encountered and taking every bit of my negative past to strengthen my positive future. Finally a film where an African American student is demonstrated as brilliant and intelligent!