Dr. Dolittle is a 1998 American fantasy comedy film directed by Betty Thomas, written by Larry Levin and Nat Mauldin, and starring Eddie Murphy in the title role, along with Ossie Davis and Oliver Platt. The film is loosely based on the series of children's stories by Hugh Lofting.
Dr. Dolittle was released by 20th Century Fox on June 26, 1998. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office success, grossing $294.4 million against a $71.5 million budget.
The film's success generated a theatrical sequel, Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), and three films released direct to video: Dr. Dolittle 3 (2006), Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief (2008), and Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (2009).
Contents
Plot
In 1968, five-year old John Dolittle displays an ability to hear what animals are saying, starting with his own dog. John asks his dog questions like: "Why do dogs sniff each other's butts?" and the dog's response is that it is their own way of shaking hands, and John does it when meeting his new principal Mr. Galvin. His behavior concerns his father Archer, who hires a local priest to perform an exorcism on John in order to remove the "devil" from him. During the exorcism, the dog bites and attacks the priest, resulting in Archer sending the dog away. Following this ordeal, John eventually stops talking to animals and soon forgets he can.
Thirty years later in 1998, John is a doctor and a surgeon living in San Francisco, California. He is happily married to his wife Lisa, and has two daughters, typical teenager Charisse, and nerdy Maya, who has a pet guinea pig named Rodney, and what she believes is a swan egg, which she hopes will bond with her upon hatching. A large medical company owned by Mr. Calloway seeks to buy John's practice, a deal which one of his colleagues, Dr. Mark Weller, is enthusiastic about, though their other colleague, Dr. Gene Reiss, is skeptical about the deal due to the potential of downsizing patients and staff.
John's family goes on vacation, while John goes back to work to see a patient, and then pick up Rodney. On his way home, he accidentally nearly hits a dog with his SUV, causing the dog to scold him in anger. Afterward, as John is driving to the cabin his family is staying at with Rodney in the car, Rodney starts talking to John, causing him to believe he is having a mental breakdown. John has a CT scan after animals start asking for favors when he helps a hurt owl, and he then unwittingly adopts the dog he nearly ran over, eventually naming him Lucky. John later starts secretly helping various animals, including a suicidal circus tiger named Jake, who suffers from vision problems and crippling headaches. Through all this, John begins learning to re-appreciate his gift, at one point confiding to both Lucky and Mark that he hasn't felt excited about his work in years. However, Lisa and Mark catch him performing CPR on a rat, and have him sent to a mental hospital.
Believing his gift is a hindrance, John rejects all abnormality in his life and returns to work, but in doing so, ostracizes Maya as well, who comes to believe he dislikes her. Maya admits to Archer that she liked the idea of her father talking to animals, and John has a change of heart when he eavesdrops on the conversation. He admits to Maya that he does not like, but loves her for who she is, and encourages her to continue being what she wants to be.
Cast
Live-action cast
Eddie Murphy as Dr. John Dolittle, a physician who can talk to animals.
Dari Gerard Smith as 5-year-old John Dolittle
Raymond Matthew Mason as 3-year-old John Dolittle
Ossie Davis as Archer Dolittle, the father of John.
Oliver Platt as Dr. Mark Weller, a colleague and frenemy of John.
Peter Boyle as Mr. Calloway, a man who seeks to buy John's practice.
Richard Schiff as Dr. Gene Reiss, a colleague and loyal friend of John.
Kristen Wilson as Lisa Dolittle, the wife of John.
Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Fish
Kyla Pratt as Maya Dolittle, the nerdy daughter of John.
Raven-Symoné as Charisse Dolittle, (Paprika) the teenage daughter of John.
Steven Gilborn as Dr. Sam Litvack
Erik Dellums as Jeremy
Don Calfa as Hammersmith Patient
Kellye Nakahara as Beagle Woman
Beth Grant as Woman
Richard Penn as Mr. Gavin
John Lafayette as Reverend
Paul Giamatti as Blaine Hammersmith (uncredited)
Voice cast
Norm Macdonald as Lucky, a dog that John adopts.
Albert Brooks as Jacob "Jake", a Bengal tiger.
Chris Rock as Rodney, a guinea pig owned by the Dolittle family
Reni Santoni as Rat #1
John Leguizamo as Rat #2
Julie Kavner as Female Pigeon
Garry Shandling as Male Pigeon
Ellen DeGeneres as Prologue Dog, John's childhood pet
Brian Doyle-Murray as Old Retriever
Phil Proctor as Drunk Monkey
Jenna Elfman as Owl
Gilbert Gottfried as Compulsive Dog
Phyllis Katz as Goat
Douglas Shamburger as Pound Dog
Jeff Doucette as Possum
Archie Hahn as Heavy Woman's Dog
Tom Towles as German Shepherd
Eddie Frierson as Skunk
Paul Reubens as Raccoon
Royce D. Applegate as "I Love You" Dog
James F. Dean as Orangutan
Chad Einbinder as Bettelheim the Cat
Puppeteers
Lead puppeteer
Allan Trautman - lead puppeteer
Puppeteers
Bill Barretta
Kevin Carlson
Bruce Lanoil
Drew Massey
Ian Tregonning
Mak Wilson
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was released on June 16, 1998, through Atlantic Records and consisted of a blend of hip-hop and contemporary R&B. The soundtrack was a huge success, peaking at 4 on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and was certified 2× Multi-Platinum on October 20 the same year. AllMusic rated the soundtrack four stars out of five.
The soundtrack's only charting single, "Are You That Somebody?" by Aaliyah, also found success, making it to 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards.
Information taken from Dr. Dolittle: The Album liner notes:
Sample credits
"Lovin' You So" contains elements from "Pack'd My Bags", written by Chaka Khan and Tony Maiden.
"Dance" contains "If Ever I Fall" by The Winans.
"Ain't Nothin' but a Party" contains an interpolation of "8th Wonder", written by Sylvia Robinson, Clifton Chase, Michael Wright, Cheryl Cook, and Guy O'Brien.
Reception
Box office
On its opening weekend, Dr. Dolittle earned $29,014,324 across 2,777 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office, the best debut for a 20th Century Fox film that week. It would go on to achieve the biggest opening weekend for an Eddie Murphy film, beating The Nutty Professor. That record would be surpassed by its successor Nutty Professor II: The Klumps in 2000. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $144,156,605 in the United States and $150,300,000 internationally, totaling $294,456,605 worldwide.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 43% based on reviews from 53 critics, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Doctor Dolittle finds some mirth in the novelty of wisecracking critters, but this family feature's treacly tone is made queasy by a reliance on scatological gags that undercut the intended warmth". On Metacritic, it has weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.
Leonard Klady of Variety called it "slim on story and rife with scatological jokes, the film may strike a chord with pre-teens but misses for an older crowd despite some nifty effects and broad humor". Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times dismissed the film as "a complete waste of time and potential".
Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club wrote: "Murphy is stuck playing second fiddle to the film's menagerie of nutty animals, he makes an engaging straight man. Dr. Dolittle isn't as sharp or consistent as Murphy's The Nutty Professor, but it's an amusing, lightweight diversion". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 and wrote: "Too many adults have a tendency to confuse bad taste with evil influences; it's hard for them to see that the activities in Doctor Dolittle, while rude and vulgar, are not violent or anti-social. The movie will not harm anyone".
Home media
Dr. Dolittle was released on LaserDisc and VHS on November 24, 1998, DVD on August 3, 1999, and Blu-ray disc on March 18, 2014, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Other media
Video game
A video game based on the film was released in Europe for the PlayStation 2 on November 29, 2006.
