Zookeeper is a 2011 American fantasy comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, with a screenplay by Nick Bakay, Rock Reuben, Kevin James, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn, from a story by Scherick and Ronn, and produced by Todd Garner, James, Adam Sandler, Jack Giarraputo, and Walt Becker.

The film stars James, Rosario Dawson, and Leslie Bibb, with the voice roles of Cher, Nick Nolte, Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Judd Apatow, Jim Breuer, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Richie Minervini, Maya Rudolph, Bas Rutten, and Don Rickles in his final film role.

The animals hold a meeting that evening as they feel that Griffin is the best zookeeper, so they decide to find some way to help him win back Stephanie without leaving the zoo.

Jerome the brown bear suggests that they teach Griffin their mating techniques, but Joe the lion protests, reminding them that it's against the animal code to talk to humans.

Griffin then has a talk with Bernie, a forlorn Western lowland gorilla who has spent years in a deep enclosure after allegedly attacking a zookeeper named Shane.

When Stephanie proposes to him in the midst of his success, he refuses without hesitation, dumping her as he realizes that she doesn't truly love or accept him for who he is and that their relationship was all conditional to her.

He was being held in a 20-by-20 foot stall and collapsed in his pen, causing PETA to come down hard on the filmmakers and stage protests at the film's premiere.

[10][11] Tai the elephant was featured in a video, reportedly filmed in 2005 and released in 2011 by Animal Defenders International (ADI), which showed him being abused by its trainers.

[14] Around 50 people came to the film's premiere at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, to protest against the filmmakers for their alleged animal abuse.

In an interview, Coraci stated, "... We worked with people who love their animals and [the American] Humane Association was there to ensure that they were being treated correctly.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Zookeeper smothers Kevin James's [sic] with a sodden script and a surfeit of jokes inappropriate for the young viewers who would be intrigued by its juvenile storyline.

[18] Brian Lowry of Variety called it "a marketing pitch in search of a movie" and a "punishingly flat effort that offers barely enough comedy to populate a three-minute trailer.

Despite his criticism he offers some small praise: "Although one would never have expected to find her in a film like this, Dawson, by dint of enthusiasm, is the only actor who rises above the material with her dignity intact.

The hosts sarcastically praised the trailer as if they thought it was a fake, well crafted parody of a tired subset of the comedy genre, at one point noting "All they were missing was a wise cracking sidekick for Kevin James, played by a rapper.

[24] British newspaper The Telegraph named Zookeeper one of the ten worst films of 2011, saying "Portly Kevin James is the hero of this "comedy", which boasts five screenwriters and not a single amusing moment.