An injured dolphin washed up on the Florida shoreline in 2005, barely alive and given slim chances of surviving. Its flesh had been torn open by a fishing net, inflicting injuries so severe that the animal had to have its tail amputated. The story of the animal’s eventual survival provided the inspiration for a new film, the kid flick Dolphin Tale, which critics have praised as sterling family entertainment and one of the year’s best feel-good movies.

The film is based on the story of a dolphin named Winter who lives at an aquarium in Florida, and its convalescence at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium after its near-fatal encounter with a crabbing net. The movie’s script closely follows the same plot line.

In Dolphin Tale the animal, just a few months old, is rescued by a young boy named Sawyer and an altruistic doctor who saves its life. After her tail is amputated, Winter’s caregivers come up with the ingenious idea of outfitting the animal with a cutting-edge prosthetic tail that allows her to swim normally.

Winter's real life caregivers in Florida said part of the challenge was to create a tail that was durable yet also supple and pliant, because the injured bottlenose dolphin did not tolerate rigid materials against its sensitive body.

“We applied to Winter existing technology, prostheses and ­med-ical knowledge for humans,” said David Yates, director of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, who said the materials used in developing the fake tail have also been useful in the development of prosthetics for humans. “She also gave us with her rehabilitation process a great invention for those who must live with prostheses,” he said of the appendage fashioned from rubberised plastic and carbon fiber.

Another challenge was creating a tail which mimics the dolphin's own undulating swimming movements, but which would remain attached in the water. After trial and error, the experts created a sleeve from a sticky gel composite that slips down onto Winter's stump and creates suction when the prosthetic appendage is applied.

“When we saw the success of this sleeve on Winter, it began testing with people and the response has been overwhelmingly positive, they no longer have those pains,” said Mr Yates.

And as in the film, Winter's recovery has been nothing short of astonishing.

Dolphin Tale was released this weekend across the US, and early reviews have been glowing. The A-list cast includes Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Connick Jr and Morgan Freeman.