Animal lovers everywhere, prepare to openly weep at the heartwarming story of a tailless dolphin named Winter in Dolphin Tale, which is in production over at Alcon Entertainment. The film is based on the true story of boy who befriends a rescued dolphin that lost its tail in a crab trap and motivates his community to help create a prosthetic tail for the dolphin (a la How to Train Your Dragon) and nurse it back to full health. I can see Kleenex stock going up already.

THR has announced that Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd, and voiceover king Morgan Freeman have been added to the cast. Freeman will be playing the amiable doctor who devises the prosthetic for the dolphin, Connick the rescuer, and Judd the boy’s mother. The lead role of the boy has yet to be cast.

Tale is being written and directed by Air Bud helmer Charles Martin Smith, along with co-writer Karen Janszen who penned Free Willy 2, giving the team a bit of experience not only with human/animal relations, but in dealing with aquatic animals too.

There’s no release date set for this one yet, but with a tear jerker like this you better believe they’re eyeballing Oscar season. Look for this one next Septemberish to round out the late summer flicks.