Akeelah and the Bee is a 2006 American drama film written and directed by Doug Atchison. It tells the story of Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer), an 11-year-old girl who participates in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, her mother (Angela Bassett), her schoolmates, and her coach, Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne). The cast also features Curtis Armstrong, J. R. Villarreal, Sean Michael Afable, Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum, Sahara Garey, Eddie Steeples, and Tzi Ma.
The film was developed over a period of 10 years by Atchison, who came up with the initial concept after seeing the 1994 Scripps National Spelling Bee and noting that a majority of the competitors came from well-off socioeconomic backgrounds. After completing the script in 1999, Atchison won one of the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting in 2000, which attracted producers Sid Ganis and Nancy Hult Ganis. After an initial inability to secure funding, the project got a second wind as a result of the success of the 2002 documentary film Spellbound. Lionsgate Films undertook the production in 2004 and in the following year it was filmed in South Los Angeles on a budget of over $6 million.
Atchison remarked that his theme for the film, deemed an inspirational film, was about overcoming obstacles despite difficult challenges along the way. He also said that he wanted to portray African Americans in a manner that was not stereotypical and tried to show how African-American children incorporate some stereotypes. The film alludes to the importance of community as well as to problems black communities face. It also deals with esteem and stigma in school while criticizing the public school system. Cast members said that although the film was aimed at children, they considered it had important lessons for the parents as well.
Released in the United States on April 28, 2006, Akeelah and the Bee was positively received by critics and audiences. Reviewers praised its storyline and cast, lauding Palmer's performance, although a few critics panned the story as familiar and formulaic, and were critical of the portrayal of Asian-American characters. The film grossed $19 million, and received a number of awards and nominations, including the Black Reel Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. Film critics highly praised it for avoiding African-American stereotypes common in Hollywood films, while scholars were less favorable, even saying it reinforces some clichés.
Plot 11-year-old spelling enthusiast Akeelah Anderson attends the predominantly black Crenshaw Middle School in South Los Angeles. She lives with her widowed mother Tanya, her three older siblings Kiana, Devon, and Terrence, and Kiana's infant daughter, Mikayla. Akeelah's principal, Mr. Bob Welch, encourages her to enter the Crenshaw Spelling Bee. She initially refuses, but enters after being threatened with detention for the remainder of the semester due to her frequent truancy, and wins.
Visiting English professor Dr. Joshua Larabee is impressed by Akeelah's spelling talent and believes she has a chance of winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but declines to coach her after they argue over her use of African American Vernacular English. During the final round of the district bee, Akeelah is almost eliminated, but is given another chance after Kiana catches one of the other finalists cheating. Akeelah befriends fellow speller Javier Mendez, who invites her to join the spelling club at his Woodland Hills middle school.
At Woodland Hills, Akeelah meets Dylan Chiu, a Chinese-American boy who has finished second at the past two national spelling bees and is in his final year of eligibility. After Akeelah misspells a word, Dylan contemptuously advises her to find a coach. When an increasingly stressed Tanya discovers Akeelah has been traveling alone to Woodland Hills, she forbids Akeelah from participating in the regional bee and enrolls her in summer school to make up for her absences. Akeelah forges her deceased father's signature on the consent form and apologizes to Dr. Larabee for her rudeness before convincing him to coach her for the state bee, with her mother unaware of her disobedience.
At Javier's birthday party, Akeelah nearly beats Dylan in Scrabble, after which she overhears Dylan's overly competitive father berating him for almost losing to a "little black girl." At the state bee, Tanya finally discovers Akeelah’s secret when she receives an unexpected invitation from Javier's parents; when she arrives, she orders her daughter off the stage and chastises her for her dishonesty. Javier intentionally stalls to allow Akeelah to return to the stage in time for her next turn. After speaking to Dr. Larabee and Mr. Welch, Tanya reluctantly allows Akeelah to continue, and she advances to Scripps, along with Dylan and Javier.
As Christmas approaches, Dr. Larabee tells Akeelah that he is resigning as her coach, and gives her 5,000 flashcards to study despite her protests. Feeling abandoned by Dr. Larabee, distanced from her best friend Georgia, and pressured by her community to win and make them proud, Akeelah loses her motivation. Encouraged by Tanya, Akeelah recruits her siblings, classmates, teachers, friends, and neighbors to help her prepare. As the day of the national bee approaches, Akeelah visits Dr. Larabee, who confesses that she reminds him of his late daughter, Denise, who died of a terminal illness when she was younger than Akeelah. He agrees to accompany her to Washington, D.C., along with Tanya, Mr. Welch, and Devon. Akeelah also invites Georgia, rekindling their friendship.
After all the other competitors, including Javier, are eliminated during the national bee, the competition comes down to Akeelah and Dylan. During a break, Akeelah overhears Dylan's father aggressively pressuring him to win, so she intentionally misspells a word ("xanthosis," the same word Dylan asked her to spell when they first met) to help him win, but Dylan, appalled by Akeelah's decision and fed up with his father's competitive nature, intentionally misspells the same word. He then tells her he wants a fair competition. The two then proceed to spell all the remaining words in the final round correctly until they are eventually declared co-champions after Akeelah spells "pulchritude," the same word she misspelled when she first met Dr. Larabee.
Cast
Keke Palmer as Akeelah Anderson: Three hundred girls auditioned for the role of Akeelah in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, with Palmer having auditioned five times to get the part. Atchison liked Palmer's acting, but the major factor in choosing her was that at only age ten Palmer already had a profound interpretation of the script. He chose her as he did not want a kid whom he would command but instead someone with whom he could have a collaboration: someone who would understand the role and "would make this character her own". He just assisted her to fully ensure that she would understand the character's feelings and would make "the right emotional choices".
Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Joshua Larabee : Fishburne was pleased by the concept of the film, stating he was "really moved by it", so that he accepted to take his part "at an affordable rate", according to producer Michael Romersa. He first read the script in 2002 and moved by the fact that "there were very few people with the courage" to "make this kind of movie" he also accepted to be a producer for the film. About the character, Atchison said that Larabee is "vulnerable" and "a very sensitive guy" that has "a quiet moral authority". He also asserted that Fishburne made Larabee "a fairly buttoned-up, stoic type" and "subtly more animated" than how he envisioned the character. Larabee is based upon a teacher, Robert Larabell, Atchison had in Phoenix, Arizona.
Angela Bassett as Tanya Anderson: Bassett's agent sent her the script which she "just loved". Atchison praised Bassett's portrayal of the character, asserting she "made Tanya a real person" after understanding "the thought process of the character". The director said Tanya wants the best for Akeelah but is reticent because she thinks "the dream will fail and make things worse". Bassett stressed that her character has to handle the pain of her husband's death in addition to having bills paid but that Tanya "gain[s] some measure of courage herself" inspired by Akeelah. Curtis Armstrong as Bob Welch: Atchison pointed Armstrong "was the perfect choice for the school principal". About his character role in the film, he said, "Welch is very excitable and provides a lot of the comic relief in our story." J. R. Villarreal as Javier Mendez: Villarreal was chosen by scouts at the Sheraton Hotel in south McAllen to go to the next phase in Dallas. After doing well in Dallas, he was sent to auditions in California and finally got the part. He commented that "Javier is a very good friend to Akeelah ... And also like his charisma, his character, he can always put a smile on your face. He really doesn't care what people think of him that much and he helps Akeelah out with that little matter because she cares very much what people think about her." Sean Michael Afable as Dylan Chiu (Chinese: 邱德倫; pinyin: Qiū Délún): Akeelah's rival who can be "sometimes harsh and seemingly cutthroat", but this is because of the pressure his father puts on him. Afable notes that Dylan's "true character" is seen at the end of the film. Sahara Garey as Georgia Carver Garey did "about six auditions" to take the role. She commented that about her character: "she encourages Akeelah, because she sees so many qualities in her that she doesn't think she herself has. Georgia aims lower, but she encourages Akeelah to aim higher."
Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, and Julito McCullum portray Akeelah's older siblings Kiana, Devon, and Terrence, respectively. Dalia Phillips appears as Akeelah's teacher, Ms. Cross, and Eddie Steeples as Derrick T. Tzi Ma takes the role of Mr. Chiu, Dylan's father, while Wolfgang Bodison plays Tanya's husband whose name is not spoken in film, although Akeelah is shown writing "James Anderson" on the consent form.
Production
Writing Doug Atchison first had the idea of making a film about spelling bees after watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee of 1994 and noticing that most of the contestants had "privileged backgrounds". Atchison also considered spelling bees to contain "all the drama and tension and entertainment value of a sporting event", and felt that this could be made into a film. From this, he got the idea to write a script following the story of a child who had talent for spelling bee but was from a low-income neighborhood so did not "have access to the resources or coaching to pursue it as these other kids had". He had the desire of making a "Rocky-like story" and although made it a "dramatic" plot, he declared it is "essentially a sports movie".
Atchison started his screenplay in 1999, when he wrote a five-page treatment in about a month. In addition to the fact he was working on other projects, Atchison said he waited years before starting to write because he "thought someone else would do it first". This did not happen, so he began to write by himself. Few changes were made in the process of transitioning from the original draft to the final product. One change was that at first, Akeelah's mother had a smaller role and Akeelah's father was alive. Also, Larabee had been an older man (72 years old), and a few characters were cut. However, Atchison has summarized that "the steps she goes through, the friends she's got, those were always the same."
Development