I wanted to but couldn't!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

As an animal lover, I very much enjoyed Dr. Doolitle (1967). It's an enjoyable Comedy/Adventure/Musical/Fantasy movie about Dr. Doolitle, the animal doctor, and his journey to find the Great Pink Sea Snail in order to improve on his skills in animal languages. I gave this film a 6/10 because the vintage settings are authentic and beautiful, the overall message of the film, and the cinematography is excellent. The criticisms that I have are that some of the characters were boring, some songs were dull and there are some very corny and unfunny moments. The movie begins on a fishing deck in the middle of a town where the houses are yellow-brown brick and conjoined together with triangular rooftops, chimneys, and a sign reading "Fundlesy Clay". Dr. Doolite's home is not how you would expect an average veterinarian's home to look. Across the bridge and past, a small garden is Dr. Doolitle's brick house. There is a large doorbell and an engraved wooden and brass sign with his name on it on the wooden door. Inside his home, you will find all kinds of animals, such as pigs, monkeys, parrots, roosters, horses, donkeys, owls, sheep, ducks, rabbits, hedgehogs, cats, and dogs walking and sitting inside and outside.The message of the film is about why we treat animals different from humans even though humans are animals as well. Dr. Doolite is a proud vegetarian who speaks to animals. When he was in court and presented his case in an attempt to prove that he is able to speak to animals, the judge decided to sentence Dr. Doolite to an insane asylum. He claims the reason in that he treats animals like humans and then Dr. Doolite goes into a song explaining why we should not kill and eat animals, and rather treat them like people.The cinematography of the film is great. The director cuts to the new actors very smoothly when a new person is speaking or when something new has been introduced. The camera pans slowly onto Dr. Doolitle while he speaks the most important parts. While reading this book in the library after he is released from jail, the camera switches back and forth between Dr. Doolitle and Emma while they are conversing in a very smooth and professional manner. The film is 152 minutes long. Adults may find some parts to be very immature humour or very corny. For example, there is a scene where Dr. Doolitle is singing what appears to be a love song to a baby seal in a stroller. Also, although some of the songs are humorous, short, sweet, and catchy, others are not. There are some songs in the film that I think should have been taken out completely. The characters, other than Dr. Doolitle, are boring and uninteresting. Their motives, strengths, and weakness are unclear as most characters in the film are not very dynamic.I would recommend this movie to people who enjoy musicals. The film definitely gets better after the 1-hour mark. It is a good film to watch when you had a long day and just want to shut off your brain and enjoy a film with your family. The comedy is light and easy but there are definitely some funny moments. The animals are enjoyable, especially the two-headed llama.I gave this film 6/10 stars because it was not nearly as good as I was hoping that it would be. The areas that I think that could be improved would definitely be that Tommy, Lady Petherington, and Matthew were all very boring characters. Some more detail could have been added to bring them to life. There were only 1 or 2 songs that I really enjoyed and found catchy in the film and some of the jokes made in the film seemed a tad lazy. The parts that made the film good were the cinematography, the settings, and the overall message of the film.

DOCTOR DOLITTLE is the famous film version of the Hugh Lofting novels, starring Rex Harrison as the fellow with a penchant for communicating with animals large and small. It was notoriously a flop on release but watching it these days it's hard to see why; the likable, fast-moving narrative features plenty of good songs and the situation is naturally humorous and allows itself to comedy. Harrison may have been one of the less friendly stars of his age but he fits the role like a glove and Anthony Newley and Samantha Eggar give good support too. Plus, if you're an animal lover then you'll enjoy the material anyway, because all kinds of breeds and species get plenty of funny screen time. I enjoyed it just as much as a well-regarded classic like THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

DOCTOR DOLITTLE (1967) is what a "family classic" should be. Entertaining the whole way through, with catchy and witty songs, colorful performances, plenty of cute animals, and a script packed with imagination and a sense of fun.DOLITTLE was a favorite in my family, and I grew up watching it on a VHS we'd taped from an old television broadcast. To me Rex Harrison was always "Doctor Dolittle", even though the film came late in his career. When I discovered his earlier film work, I was amused at seeing a "young Doctor Dolittle". So my views may be colored by nostalgia, although I recently saw the movie in its entirety for the first time in many, many years and found it to be great fun.The story has the feel of an episodic adventure, taking our heroes to different places and having them do different things. This keeps the audience engaged throughout the nearly two and a half hour running time. Doctor John Dolittle (Rex Harrison) is a physician in 1840s England who is more interested in the various species of animals than in his human patients. So he becomes a strictly animal doctor (veterinarian) and, with the help of his genius pet parrot, learns hundreds of animal dialects. The various side-adventures in this film are all in service of Dolittle's quest to find a mythical giant pink sea snail. First he showcases a rare two-headed llama (a "pushmi-pullyu") at a circus until he can earn enough money to set sail. From there come legal complications, a jail break plot, adventure on the high seas, and still more fun on an exotic "floating" island.Harrison gives a signature performance as the good doctor. Dolittle's a very kind fellow whose ideas about treating animals with as much respect as humans (and his practice of fitting short-sighted horses with glasses, for example) run counter to the prevailing minds of his "civilized" community. The man's an eccentric genius who doesn't fit in with human society. Harrison's portrayal gives Dolittle the amusing peculiarities of an absent-minded professor. His performance is pretty funny in an understated way.Singer-songwriter-actor Anthony Newley plays Irishman Matthew Mugg, one of Dolittle's few friends who, along with young Tommy Stubbins (William Dix), accompanies the doctor on his adventures. Matthew introduces Stubbins (and the audience) to the wonderful world of Doctor Dolittle, and the two "ordinary" characters act as proxies for the audience amid the fantastical happenings that seem to follow Harrison's character wherever he goes.Lovely Samantha Eggar plays Emma Fairfax (affectionately known to Matthew as "Fred"), who first sides against Dolittle, but comes to be enchanted by the life he leads. Miss Fairfax is meant to give the film a romantic subplot, but the intended romance is a bit confusing (surely Rex Harrison is much too old for Eggar).Richard Attenborough gives a tremendous, high-energy performance as Blossom, the owner of the circus. I love seeing him bounce around as he sings "I've Never Seen Anything Like It". Caribbean actor Geoffrey Holder (LIVE AND LET DIE) is great as the surprisingly literate tribal chief on the floating island.The songs by Leslie Bricusse are delightful. "Talk To The Animals" is a classic. "My Friend The Doctor" is contagiously joyful. I think the lyrics are particularly well-done on numbers like "I've Never Seen Anything Like It" and "Like Animals".The world of DOCTOR DOLITTLE is unforgettable. A mild-mannered Englishman travels the world in his top hat, conversing with dogs, pigs, whales, fish, horses, chimpanzees, seals, and elephants. It's a world of dancing two-headed llamas, centenarian parrots educated in thousands of animal languages (including "dead" languages like dodo and unicorn), islands that move about the globe, and giant moths that fly back and forth between the Earth and the moon (constantly attracted to the other's light). The script is clever and imaginative. Several scenes stand out: the horse eye exam, the circus, the cunning seal escape, the absurd shipwreck, the tribal execution, the pink sea snail.Having now seen the film as an adult, and finding the experience thoroughly charming, I can't believe how lowly regarded it is. DOCTOR DOLITTLE entertains from beginning to end with a sense of wonder, a sense of adventure, and a sense of humor. Rex Harrison anchors a solid cast and the songs are great. The movie is something unique. Something original and self-contained. Where else will you see a whale pushing an entire island across the ocean? Or a dog giving testimony in court? Or a tribe of natives performing Shakespeare? It's a family classic. What's not to like?I may have been pre-conditioned since childhood to like this film, but some of the criticism seems a bit over-the-top, stemming from dissatisfaction with the film's Oscar attention. Even if you don't enjoy roadshow-length family musicals, you must admit that the production is impressive from a technical standpoint (the sets, the cinematography, the special effects, the animal wrangling).I actually like DOCTOR DOLITTLE, directed by Richard Fleischer (20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA), better than its popular contemporary CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG. The latter is fun despite its weaknesses, but DOLITTLE is something wonderful.

The Remake of Doctor Doolittle is better known than the original. But despite the fact what you think of the Eddie Murphy staring vehicle (I kinda liked it), this is the original. And almost every time the original is better than the remake! (there are of course exception of the rule, see Ocean's 11 for instance).But Rex Harrison is a great actor and even with animals as partners he's on top form here. The story isn't that easy to follow or better said, you're not sure where this is going. Does it have a goal or is it aimlessly drifting along? Of course it does have one, but it's difficult to spot. I enjoyed it, but it's just not everyones taste!Edit: I finally figured out, why it seemed a bit off. Because it actually was more than "a bit off". The making of this movie is far more interesting than the end result we can watch. There was a "back story" on this movie in the magazine Empire. It shed quite some light on the difficulties the makers were confronted by, while making this movie. Rex Harrison was one of those "problems". It's too long a story to list here, but search for it and you will be amazed ... or utterly disappointed