Filmed primarily in Bentonville, AR.
The original Wal-Mart building, the Five & Dime store can be see at the beginning of the movie when the boys are riding around the Bentonville Square behind the man with a mustache and a broom.
The church featured towards the end of the movie where James and his friends meet up with Dr. Palmer is an actual church called the "Little Chapel in the Woods" in Bella Vista, AR and is a very popular location for couples to be married.
The opening sequence (and a good portion) of the movie were filmed at Crystal Bridges Art Museum which is a Bentonville, AR, public art museum partly funded by Alice Walton of the Walton family who is a daughter of Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton.
Arvest Bank is a real bank headquarter in Arkansas, primarily located in Northwest Arkansas and part of NE Oklahoma and SW Missouri.