Cameron Crowe’s signature whimsical style is on full display in the first trailer released for upcoming family drama “We Bought a Zoo”, based on a true story and starring Matt Damon as a recently widowed father who moves his family (child actors Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones play the little ones) to a charming middle-of-nowhere town, where the land their new house sits on turns out to be a dilapidated zoo. The small town is occupied by equally charming inhabitants, of course, led by Scarlett Johansson as a pretty new love interest for dad, and Elle Fanning as a bit of eye candy for Jr too. In one ironic scene, Damon’s Benjamin says, “I’m trying to give the kids an authentic American experience”, while the film is based on the memoirs of Benjamin Mee, a British man who took over Dartmoor Zoological Park, a quaint little zoological park in the authentic English countryside.

But we digress, and still can’t wait for this film, one of our 20 most anticipated of the fall season. We’ll all get our chance when it’s released on December 23, 2011.

Check out the new trailer below or at Apple Trailers in glorious HD.