Fly Away Home movie storyline. After her mother Aliane dies in a car accident, 13-year-old Amy Alden (Anna Paquin) is brought from New Zealand to Ontario, Canada, by her estranged father Thomas Alden (Jeff Daniels), a sculptor and inventor, to live with him and his girlfriend Susan (Dana Delany).
When a construction crew destroys a small wilderness area near the Alden home, Amy finds a nest of goose eggs. Without Thomas, Susan, or her uncle David (Terry Kinney) knowing, she takes the eggs and keeps them in a dresser in her father’s old barn to incubate. When the eggs have hatched, she is allowed to keep the goslings as pets. Thomas asks for help from local game warden Glen Seifert (Jeremy Ratchford) on how to care for the geese.
Seifert comes over to the Alden house, and explains that the geese have imprinted on Amy as their mother. He explains that geese learn everything from their parents including migratory routes, but also warns Thomas that all domestic geese must have their wings pinioned (clipped) to render them flightless, which upsets Amy. Thomas throws Seifert off his property, only for Seifert to threaten the Aldens that if the birds start flying, he will have to confiscate them.
Thomas decides to use an ultralight aircraft to teach the birds to fly and show them their migratory routes, but quickly realizes the birds will only follow Amy. Aided by his friend Barry (Holter Graham), Thomas teaches Amy how to fly an ultralight aircraft of her own, so she can teach the geese. David mentions knowing someone running a bird sanctuary in North Carolina, and arranges for the geese to go to the sanctuary. The birds have to arrive before November 1, or the sanctuary will be torn down by developers who plan to turn it into a coastal housing development.
Amy and Thomas practice flying the aircraft, but Igor, the weakest of the geese, who has a limp, accidentally hits the front of Amy’s aircraft and lands in an isolated forest. While the group goes off to search for the bird, Glen Seifert returns to the Alden farm and confiscates the other geese. The next day, an elaborate plan is staged to free the geese and start their migration to North Carolina.
Fly Away Home (a.k.a. Flying Wild and Flying Wild, Father Goose) is a 1996 family drama film directed by Carroll Ballard. The film stars Anna Paquin, Jeff Daniels and Dana Delany. Fly Away Home was released on September 13, 1996 by Columbia Pictures. Fly Away Home dramatizes the actual experiences of Bill Lishman who, in 1986, started training geese to follow his ultralight aircraft, and succeeded in leading their migration in 1993.
Fly Away Home (1996)
Directed by: Carroll Ballard
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin, Dana Delany, Terry Kinney, Holter Graham, Jeremy Ratchford, Deborah Verginella, Nora Ballard, Carmen Lishman, Sarena Paton
Screenplay by: Robert Rodat, Vince McKewin
Production Design by: Seamus Flannery
Cinematography by: Caleb Deschanel
Film Editing by: Nicholas C. Smith
Costume Design by: Marie-Sylvie Deveau
Set Decoration by: Dan Conley
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: PG for an opening accident scene and some mild language.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: September 13, 1996
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