Doctor Dolittle

Plot synopsis:
In early Victorian England, Matthew Mugg (Anthony Newley) takes his young friend Tommy Stubbins (William Dix) to visit eccentric Doctor John Dolittle (Rex Harrison) for a sick duck that Tommy had found in the streets, Dolittle, a former physician, lives with an extended menagerie, including a chimpanzee named Chee-Chee (Cheeta), a dog named Jip, and a talking parrot named Polynesia (the uncredited voice of Ginny Tyler). Dolittle claims that he can talk to animals. In a flashback, he explains that he kept so many animals in his home that they created havoc with his human patients, who took their medical needs elsewhere. His sister, who served as his housekeeper, demanded that he dispose of the animals or she would leave; he chose the animals. Polynesia taught him that different animal species can talk to each other, prompting Dolittle to study animal languages so that he could become an animal doctor.
While treating a horse, Dolittle's lack of human empathy offends the horse's owner, General Bellowes (Peter Bull). Bellowes' niece, Emma Fairfax (Samantha Eggar), chides Dolittle for his irresponsibility and rudeness to her uncle. Matthew falls in love with her at first sight. After she has gone, Dolittle admits he also finds her attractive.
A friend of Dolittle's sends him a rare Pushmi-pullyu, a creature that looks like a llama with a head on each end of its body. Dolittle takes the creature to a nearby circus, where the Pushmi-Pullyu becomes the star attraction. The doctor befriends a circus seal named Sophie who longs to return to her husband at the North Pole. Dolittle disguises her in women's clothing to convey her to the coast, and then throws her into the ocean. Fishermen mistake the seal for a woman, and have Doctor Dolittle arrested on a charge of murder. General Bellowes is the magistrate in his case, but Dolittle proves he can converse with animals by talking with Bellowes' dog. Though Dolittle is acquitted, the vindictive judge sentences him to a lunatic asylum. Dolittle's animal friends rescue him, and he, Matthew, Tommy, Polynesia, Chee-Chee and Jip set sail in search of the legendary Great Pink Sea Snail. Emma stows away, seeking adventure. They randomly choose their destination: Sea-Star Island, a floating island currently in the Atlantic Ocean.
The ship is torn apart during a storm, but everyone washes ashore on Sea-Star Island. Emma and Dolittle admit they have grown to like each other. The party is met by the island's natives, whom they mistake for hostile savages. The populace are in fact highly educated and cultured from reading books that have washed ashore from innumerable shipwrecks. Their leader is William Shakespeare the Tenth (Geoffrey Holder); his name reflects the tribe's tradition of naming children after favorite authors. William explains that they are wary of strangers coming to the island, and that the tropical island is currently endangered because it is drifting north into colder waters. Mistrust leads the islanders to blame the doctor and his party. Dolittle persuades a whale to push the island south, but this causes a balancing rock to drop into a volcano, fulfilling a prophecy that dooms Dolittle and party to be burned at the stake. The whale also causes the island to rejoin the mainland, fulfilling another prophecy that dictates that the doctor and his friends be heralded as heroes, and they are freed. While treating the animals on the island, Dolittle receives a surprise patient - the Great Pink Sea Snail, which has caught a severe cold. Dolittle discovers that the snail's shell is watertight and can carry passengers. Dolittle sends Matthew, Tommy, Emma, Polynesia, Chee-Chee, and Jip back to England with the snail. Emma wishes to stay on the island with him, but the Doctor is adamant that a relationship would never work. She finally admits her love for the Doctor, and kisses him goodbye.
Dolittle cannot go back because he is still a wanted man. Furthermore, he wishes to investigate the natives' stories of another creature, the Giant Lunar Moth. After his friends leave, Dolittle realizes painfully that he has feelings for Emma. Sophie the seal arrives, accompanied by her husband. They bring a message: the animals of England have gone on strike to protest his sentence, and Bellowes has agreed to pardon him. Dolittle and the islanders construct a saddle for the Giant Lunar Moth, and Dolittle flies back to England.

Tags: psychedelic, cute

Review:
John Dolittle was a worrying child  his father always caught him pretending to talk to animals and eventually had to get him to stop it.
When he realises that he is not going crazy and he can talk to them he is suddenly inundated with animals to treat, his family is falling apart and his business partners think their whole business is at risk.Eddie Murphy basically rebuild his career around a couple of big comedy remakes which relied on humour and effects.
Supporting the film then is some funny lines (rather than consistent jokes) from the animal support cast  whether it be main characters (Rodney the hamster) or quick one-liners (`I am Kyser Soze').The effects are surprisingly ropey  they look good but they don't move naturally and the cuts between the real animals and the puppets are very clear.
Murphy is quite dull and even the likes of Platt and Boyle (who usually do OK in small roles) have little to do.Overall this is fun to watch simply because of the support cast and the regular sharp lines of dialogue from the animals.
Is he going nuts, are life's stresses too much, or does Dr. John just need to find his inner child?The rest is a rather silly man-gets-in-touch-with-soul type movie, except for the animals.
One other thing about Murphy's acting; Dr. Dolittle is not the least bit comfortable around animals.
(Having similar feelings about pets, I was amused by Dr. Dolittle's behavior around animals.)  What's funny about this is, apparently Murphy wasn't acting.
OK, so "Doctor Dolittle" is mostly stuff that would only appeal to little kids, but it is worth seeing (I've actually never seen the original version, which I heard was a pathetic excuse for a movie).
Eddie Murphy is, in my opinion, trounced in the movie by Chris Rock as the out-of-control hamster.
I almost wish that they could have had more scenes with both Eddie Murphy and Ossie Davis (yes, Ossie Davis went so far as to take a role in this movie).So, this movie's nothing special, but pretty funny nonetheless.
That might be enough to push it into mediocrity, for sure, but it's not meant to be a deep classic, and it plays with the story nicely.That story is not just about a doctor (of the human type) who can hear animals talking.
His bland wife (with the gorgeous eyes that get overplayed) is typical of his "friends," all nice people with distractions and no time for the possibility that he might, in fact, hear animals talk.The talking animals are of course great fun, from the rats to the tiger.
The feeling of family, not dysfunctional, is another bit of warmth, not to mention that the family is African American, a nice twist on the original story based on an English doctor.And though the movie was not liked by critics, it has made a third of a billion dollars, which speaks for itself.
Afterwards, however, I certainly can't say that I think it's as bad as some do.During his childhood, John Dolittle talks to animals.
Some of the voice-overs for the animals are silly, maybe the majority of them, but this isn't much of a problem.For kids, this movie could be very funny, though it is somewhat crude at times, remember the PG-13 rating.
Without a doubt, this movie is pretty cheesy, and skipping it wouldn't be a great loss for most people, but it's certainly not one that I advise everyone to avoid at all costs (though that would probably be a good idea for some people)..
Actress Kristen Wilson as Murphy's wife is a very lovely presence to the movie and former child actress Raven-Symone is becoming a lovely young actress herself far removed from that annoyingly unbearable kid she played on The Cosby Show.
The rest of the cast are second stringers to the animal cast whose voices are brought to life by the vocal talents of Norm MacDonald, Julie Kavner, John Leguizamo, Garry Shandling, Jenna Elfman, Gilbert Gottfried and sounding eerily like James Belushi, Albert Brooks.
This is really an everage run of the mill kids movie based losely on the the Doctor Dolittle film.
Eddie Murphy plays the doctor who finds that he can comminicate with all animals.This leads to every type of animal coming to him for help for their medical problems.
Eddie Murphy does a serviceable job as John Dolittle, his role is not really like the ones he had in Beverly Hills Cop or Trading Places which also happens to two of his better movies, but he does well, and I will say he has been worse and he's been in worse films too.
It's like the stand-up comics: we've gone from clean, clever material to raunchy.The fact that Eddie Murphy and (the voice of) Chris Rock play major roles kind of give you a hint of where this film goes morally.
But that's not the case, and so it's a disgusting sham, typical of low-life Hollywood.In addition to the onslaught of language (which includes Jesus's name in vain three times among the other offenses) and fecal matter/fart jokes, the film basically wasn't that funny to begin with It's also not a shock, either, when you discover that Betty Thomas directed this film.
Doctor Dolittle is a must-see for 1998!John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) had a gift that he could talk to animals when he was younger.
Now he has a tiger to help, a family to look after, a guinea pig to rock with and an alcoholic monkey to cure.Doctor Dolittle is great.
Continuing my plan to watch every Eddie Murphy movie in order, I come to Doctor Doolittle (1998)Plot In A Paragraph: A doctor discovers he can talk to animals.
All in all, it's a decent family movie.A few of the animals are voiced by celebs Rocky (Chris Rock) Jacob the Tiger (Albert Brooks) and one of the rats (John Leguizamo) all stand out.
He was a guy who starred with animals and kids in family friendly movies.
Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) can talk to the animals.
Eddie Murphy stars as the titled character, a veterinarian who has the gift, or curse, of being able to talk to the animals and be able to hear them talking back to him.
The film is funny to an extent but the routine wears a bit thin throughout several instances during the movie's running time.
Murphy stars as an overworked doctor who unexpectedly reestablishes his childhood ability to listen and talk to the animals.
The setup is good, and Murphy is certainly the right actor to bring some zest and energy to this limp comedy, but he can only do so much with a tiresome, crude script that's riddled with butt jokes and cheap toilet humor.
Dr.Dolittle is a nice family movie, but I would not recommend this to people expecting something hilarious like Big Daddy.
Dr. Dolittle, played by Eddie Murphy, is a doctor who can hear the voices of animals.
Eddie is still good and I enjoyed him as Dr. Dolittle, a doctor who can talk to animals.
I found it really cute and funny, and I thought that it was nice how they did add some "killing blows" as someone put it, of plot and sentiment (the tiger and the daughter) because even though this movie isn't "deep" per se, it gave it something else besides the fart jokes.
Released in 1998 and directed by Betty Thomas, "Dr. Dolittle" is a family comedy starring Eddie Murphy as a doctor in San Francisco who re-encounters a curious talent he had as a child, the ability to understand the speech of animals.
With Eddie Murphy and talking animals, I expected "Dr. Dolittle" to be better than it is.
Eddie Murphy was hilarious in this movie,, I like the little back-story where they show how he learned to talk to the animals when he was a little kid.
he has to convince his family that he is not totally crazy, at first he doesn't wanna believe that he can actually talk to animals, and for the longest time he tries to deny it..
After John's dog is taken away, he is obviously not happy, and stops talking to animals for a long time.
After John's dog is taken away, he is obviously not happy, and stops talking to animals for a long time.
It seems that Dr. Dolittle's communication with animals is long gone, but one night, after he nearly runs over a dog on the road, he hears it say something!
It seems that Dr. Dolittle's communication with animals is long gone, but one night, after he nearly runs over a dog on the road, he hears it say something!
First of all, Let me tell you I am writing this review for the Hindi Dubbed Version, so if you watch the English one, this review is of no use....Man, I never remembered laughing this much in a family Hollywood movie Dubbed in Hindi.
Hats off to the Dubbing Artists, they gave the animal character's voices to different mimicry artist which brings a stupendously funny feeling for the movie..., So if you understand Hindi, then a must watch for the whole family, no explicit content or cheap jokes either, the artists that made the animals speak, the translators adding extra efforts to the dubbings brought it to life, my review, A Must Watch if you understand Hindi and knows Bollywood.......
While maybe not a patch on the original, it is a great family film that has plenty for kids of all ages to enjoy even if it does have its flaws.Murphy plays work-committed doctor John Dolittle, working in an inner-city practise and occasionally finding the time to spend with his wife (Kristen Wilson) and two daughters (Raven-Symoné and Kyla Pratt).
He also struggles to persuade his family and colleagues about his claims, just as his practise is about to merge in a big-money deal.Murphy, by now in the middle of the end of his career, doesn't need to try too hard but actually, he is surprisingly good as the increasingly demented doctor.
Maybe because he doesn't have to slap on several thousand dollars worth of latex or play every character in the movie but "Doctor Dolittle" serves as a reminder that he can be an accomplished performer without going completely over the top like he does nowadays.
However, Murphy is no match for the variety of animals acting alongside him and even though the animals actually talk through clever and discreet CG, the numerous voices and guest stars (Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Julie "Marge Simpson" Kavner and more) have all the best lines and make the movie genuinely entertaining.
The humour is suitable for a family film - great for kids, mildly amusing for grown-ups - but it does take a while to get going and for some reason, the ending didn't feel particularly satisfying.What it lacks in songs, dance routines and Rex Harrision, it makes up for in characterisation and humour.
So if you're still recovering from the likes of "Pluto Nash" or "Norbitt" then I advise you to watch this because if anything else, this is an Eddie Murphy film that doesn't make you want to blow up Hollywood..
Eddie Murphy's best post-1995 roles have been voice parts, in my opinion (Donkey & Mushu).The young actresses who play Murphy's daughters are great in their own rights; Raven-Symone and Kyla Pratt, the latter of which continues on with this franchise long after the rest have bailed, creating a nice outlet for her own growing talents.
***Starring: Eddie Murphy and a bunch of animalsA doctor is shocked when he discovers that he has the ability to communicate with animals.
Dr Dolittle is an entertaining film which sets a good balance between focusing on the calamities of being able to talk to animals as well as the benefits.Even though the film is put together well I feel a lot more could have been done with the idea that his talent had to be kept away from those he knew.
Such a formula could have been used in Dr Dolittle film to great effect.Directed by Betty Thomas, this film depicts a man who can talk to animals but not in the light seen in British - theatre.
When John (Eddie Murphy) rediscovered his ability to talk to animals, I was really impressed.
Too bad neither the animals or Eddie Murphy had anything to say worth saying.
The voices of the animals were great by some of many respectable actors and Eddie Murphy was the perfect character for Dr. Doolitle.
This is one of Eddie Murphy's best movies, it is entertaining,and suprisingly endearing.
You will love this movie Eddie Murphy is Hilarius as heck..
Eddy Murphy (Doctor Dolittle) is awesome.
The comedy of animals talking and almost driving Dr. Dolittle insane is great.
Doctor Dolittle was a fun family movie that stars Eddie Murphy who in this film is hilarious.
A decent vehicle for Eddie Murphy, I found this to be a funny movie in which Murphy finds he can talk to animals.
Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) is a gifted physician taking care of his human patients.
Seems like Eddie though is making a career off of this type of movie so more power to him..
So it will come as no surprise that I wasn't really anticipating this film and was prepared to be bored to tears with a G-rated Eddie Murphy singing to kids.
Ahem.Eddie Murphy plays Dr Dolittle a family man who seems a little wrapped in his work as a Doctor.
If you love animals it's a great movie to sit back and relax.
Doctor Dolittle is a hugely-funny comedy about Dr. John Dolittle (Nutty Professor's Eddie Murphy), who realises he can actually talk to animals!
And while everyone thinks he's nuts, the only one who will believe him is his little girl Maya (Kyla Pratt).The computer animation is great in this film, and Murphy's performance is fantastic as usual.
Kristen Wilson plays Murphy's wife Lisa, who puts in a fine performance, and a grown-up Raven-Symoné (who you'll remember as little Olivia in 'The Cosby Show') as Charisse and Kyla are both great in their roles.However, despite Eddie being at one of his funniest, it's definetely the animals that steal the show!
Whether it's suicidal tigers (Albert Brooks), unhappy female pigeons (Julie Kavner), owls with sore wings (Jenna Elfman) or just a overly-hyperactive dog (Gilbert Gottfried) you'll be laughing from start to finish, with little time to breathe in between.So join Rodney (the hilarious hampster voiced by Chris Rock), Lucky, Tiger and the gang on a rollercoaster ride to find your animal instincts, with the help of the world's most famous doctor, Doctor Dolittle..
Eddie Murphy is superb as Dr. John Dolittle who re-gains his talent to hear animals talk.
At first i thought that it was just about Eddie Murphy talking to some stupid animals.
Some people called this movie Eddie Murphy's comeback!
There were so many annoying commercials on TV showing talking animals and babies last year, so why see that for 90 minutes in a movie?.
Eddie was in top form, "but never work with animals", because they steal the show....The Guinea Pig and dog, get all the best lines.
Eddie Murphy gives a good performance, the animals are generally amusing, and the film has enough heart to compensate for the thin script and laughless segments.
There are some big laughs in Dr. Dolittle, but mostly the rest of the movie is boring and not funny at all.
This is the type of humor only a little kid can find funny.Dr. Dolittle isn't the worst movie, but it wasn't a very good one.
I went into the movie expecting a typical hilarious Eddie Murphy-centered comedy.
The animals really help to make the movie='s plot and to make it funny.
But Eddie Murphy, as a man who can talk to the animals, gives everything he's got to what is essentially a nothing role in a nothing movie, and the result is surprisingly pleasant.
Eddy Murphy however needs a great deal of assistance in making a success of his movies lately.
At least it's pretty darn funny if you don't expect to see a Eddie Murphy movie.
All the animals make this movie, and especially Chris Rock as Rodney the Guinea-pig is hilarious!The story is not very good, the acting is what you'd expect from this kind of cast, the jokes may be a bit old, but I still think this one scores.
Understandably this movie was a box-office hit and why not with the post NuttyProfessor Murphy in the lead talking to a bunch of animals with Chris Rock leading the way.
Doctor Dolittle is a 1998 family comedy starring Eddie Murphy who plays the title charcther who isn't like many doctors as he can talk to them since they can talk to him.
Eddie Murphy talks to the Animals.
Eddie Murphy talks to the Animals.
Dr Dolittle comes from children's' books I read when I was young and thus it is a kids movie, but the existence of Eddie Murphy makes it very much an adults movie as well.
This is not a feel good movie, nor is it satirical, it is simply an Eddie Murphy comic routine.
`People really can talk to animals.'  This point is illustrated throughout the movie.
Whether as a child or a grown man, John Dolittle is capable of talking to animals.
Basically when he was a child, Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) had the ability to talk to animals, and now in his adulthood, after hitting dog Lucky (Norm MacDonald), this ability might be coming back to him.
Murphy is very likable, the animal speaking effects are really well done, it is just a fun family fantasy film comedy.
Eddie Murphy carries the film.