Summer has begun. DAX (12), what he lacks in confidence he makes up for in voltage spirit, and his sister, the precocious and sassy ZOEY (12) are twins, yet couldn’t be any more opposite. They live a typical American life, with two parents who work hard, a pet dog they adore, and a secret hideout—a tree house in back woods. When they encounter a magical rainbow and curious creature, their dog starts shedding paper money instead of fur, and their life is turned upside down.
The same day the twins discover their dog NUZZLES is a bonafide canine piggy bank, WILLIAM KEARST III, an imposing, by the numbers, meticulous IRS Agent, and his slimy, visual carbon copy of a son, ODOM (14) move in next door. DAX and ZOEY’S parents are both hard-working, but are struggling financially. Once a tight-knit family, now with the twins hitting pre-teen years, and their parents always working, they seem worlds apart.
Then the fun begins! DAX and ZOEY buy everything they have ever wanted: Candy, toys, big screen television sets—even a slushy machine! Their dad lives out all of his fantasies, from racecar driving to skydiving, while their mom pampers herself with days at the spa and plans an extravagant family vacation to Italy. Ironically, the more they all are flush with material items and limitless amounts of cash, the further the family grows apart. As the money piles up, and they have to stack it, they must also keep it a secret, hiding the truth from everyone.
The horrible neighbors kidnap NUZZLES after seeing the dog shed money. Emotionally distraught, after the twins can’t find Nuzzles they begin to uncover clues that lead them to the neighbors’ garage, where they find Nuzzles, trapped. Like a scene out of “Home Alone,” After some careful planning, the twins wage an epic battle against their nemeses to rescue Nuzzles. As they fight to protect Nuzzles-- using everything from a sling shot to a slushy machine to save the day-- they realize that spending time with their family is far more important than any amount of money
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Before Carlos Palomino became a legend in the world of boxing, his life was anything but glamorous. He was born in San Luis V. Sanchez, Mexico (an unbelievably rural town in the middle of the Sonora Desert). His home was nothing more than a windowless shack with dirt floors. It lacked both plumbing and bathroom facilities of any kind. He was the third born of what would eventually become a family of twelve siblings. The first-born baby died at 6-months of age due to bronchitis. When Carlos reached this same age, he too came down with this illness. His mother, terrified to lose another child, made an oath to the Virgin Mary which required Carlos to wear long missionary-style robes and grow his hair long. For five years, Carlos was dressed in these missionary robes, and along with his long hair, was often mistaken for a girl. A visiting uncle demanded that his parents cut his hair and begin dressing him like a boy. Fortunately for Carlos, his memories of this time are very vague.
At the age of eight, Carlos’s very physically abusive father decided the family should move to America because there wasn’t enough money to be made working on the farms in Sonora. In 1958, they piled into a pick-up truck and headed for Tijuanain order to process their immigration papers legally. While living in Tijuana for two years, Carlos had to work at this incredibly young age to help support his family financially. This burden was in addition to the abuse bestowed upon him by his father on a regular basis. He shined shoes and sold newspapers and Jell-O, yelling “Gelatina! Gelatina!” throughout the dangerous streets of Tijuana. Carlos began fighting on the streets to compete for customers because if he did not return home with enough money to satisfy his father, he would become enraged. Before leaving Tijuana at the age of 10, Carlos was also stabbed and shot in two separate random acts of violence.
In 1960, the Palomino family finally received their legal immigration papers and crossed the border into America. They lived with an aunt and uncle in a small house in Santa Ana, California, which was nicknamed “Little Mexico”. Carlos continued to work to support his family while attending school. He had difficulty making friends due to the rage that existed within him. He fought with the other boys at school on a regular basis (something his father encouraged).
While in high school, Carlos was trained as a welder and soon after graduation began earning more money than his father. He saw this as his opportunity to leave the family residence and live on his own. Unfortunately, his father returned from work early to find Carlos walking out of the front door carrying his belongings. His father, after a fierce confrontation, knocked him out cold with a punch to the face (keep in mind that when Carlos later became a world champion, he was never knocked out in the ring even by greats like Roberto Duran). Once Carlos regained consciousness, he went back to his room and unpacked.
To the devastation of many young men in America, the Vietnam War draft soon began. However, when Carlos was drafted in 1970, he was relieved to be getting out from under his father’s control. After basic training, Carlos was ordered to Fort Hood, Texas, to prepare to be sent to the war in Vietnam. While waiting for this possible death sentence, he came across a boxing gym on the army base. There he read a sign regarding an upcoming try-out for the Fort Hood Boxing Championship. Before entering the gym, he overheard a conversation that informed him that if he won this title, he would be reassigned to the Special Services Department and would not have to go to Vietnam to fight in the war. With this in mind, he immediately walked into the boxing gym and asked to enter the tournament.
The coach put Carlos in the ring with his number one recruit to see how he would handle himself. Unfortunately, after three rounds of receiving a severe beating, Carlos returned to his street fighting tactics and put his opponent in a headlock and wrestled him down to the mat. The coach became infuriated and screamed, “You’re not a boxer! Get out of my gym!” But before Carlos made it through the door to leave, the coach had a sudden change of heart. He recognized that Carlos had a definite toughness because he didn’t quit. The coach saw something special in Carlos. He told him he could stay and train and compete in the tournament. However, he informed Carlos that if he were to lose even one fight in the competition, he would be ordered to go to Vietnam. This intense motivation proved to be effective. Although the training was excruciating (he would be on starvation diets for days at a time and sleep in plastic sweat-suits), Carlos went on to become the All-Army Boxing Team Champion after traveling all around the world winning numerous titles.
In 1972, due to his outstanding boxing record, Carlos qualified for the Olympic trials. To compete in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, would be a dream come true for him. However, Carlos’s dreams were shattered when he was told he could not compete because it was discovered that he was not a citizen of the United States. Carlos was both shocked and utterly disgusted that he could have been sent to Vietnam to fight (and perhaps die) for what he truly believed was his country, but he would not be given the chance to earn an Olympic medal. That year, the Olympic gold medal in Carlos’s weight division was awarded to Sugar Ray Seals. Carlos knew that medal should have been his because he had beaten Seals in the National A.A.U. finals in a unanimous decision five months prior to the Olympic Games. To the gold medalist’s credit, Seals also believed this to be true and placed the gold medal around Carlos’s neck at an unofficial ceremony.
After serving his country and being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1972, Carlos began boxing professionally. In that same year, he enrolled in college in order to earn a degree. After establishing a boxing record of 24-1-1 in 1976, Carlos was at an apex in his career. He was going to London, England, to fight for the title of WBC Welterweight Champion of the World. Since he was considered a 10 to 1 underdog, the only two people to go to Londonto support him were his trainer and his manager. To everyone’s surprise, Carlos knocked out John Stracey to become the one and only Welterweight Champion of the World. This was prior to there being more than one sanctioning body (now there are 4-5 world champions in each weight class at any given time). Carlos returned to Los Angeles to find a media frenzy awaiting him at the airport. Although he was now a celebrity, he continued his college education. In 1977, he earned his degree, making him the first world champion in history to graduate from college.
After defending his world championship title seven times, Carlos finally retired from boxing in 1979. At this time his younger brother, Paul Palomino, who had been boxing from the age of eight (and who had always idolized his older brother of 12 years) won the California State Golden Glove Championship. This gained Carlos’s brother national recognition. With the 1980 Olympic Games approaching (scheduled to take place in Moscow, Russia), the U.S. Olympic Boxing Committee selected Paul to compete with the U.S. Olympic boxing team in a pre-Olympic boxing match against the Polish Olympic boxing team. When Carlos called the president of the Olympic committee to thank him for choosing his brother Paul, the president (who knew Carlos should have won the gold medal in 1972) said, “We owe you one.” This confirmed, in Carlos’s mind, that the Olympic committee had cost him this highest honor.
To Carlos’s complete surprise, Paul told him adamantly that he was not interested in this opportunity. He said he did not want to compete in the Olympics. Rather, he wanted to turn to professional boxing on his 18th birthday. This infuriated Carlos who believed that competing in the Olympics would insure a successful future for Paul. He adored his baby brother and wanted only the very best for him. After many heated battles, Carlos convinced Paul, although reluctantly, to go to Polandto compete. As Paul boarded the plane Carlos told him “You’re going to win a gold medal”. Paul responded, “I’m doing it for you.” On March 14, 1980, the plane carrying Paul Palomino, as well as the entire U.S.boxing team, crashed while preparing to land in Poland. There were no survivors.
Carlos grieved tremendously not only for the loss of his beloved brother but because of the overwhelming guilt he carried in his heart. In his mind, he felt truly responsible for his brother’s death. Although this pain is something that has lived inside of him on a daily basis, he was able to move on one day at a time. It wasn’t just his boxing career that made him a true champion. The fact that even with the most difficult of life challenges that were thrown at him throughout his entire life, and against all odds, he became not only a legend in boxing but a wonderful and kind hearted human being. He nurtured and loved his children and never abused them either physically or mentally. Carlos stopped the cycle of abuse that is so frequently seen in dysfunctional families. He went on to have a successful acting career with a long list of television and movie credits to his name. Carlos was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. He is currently working as a boxing commentator.
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