We thought Dolittle was just lovely. And I was a complete sceptic.
I’m talking about the Doctor Dolittle movie staring Robert Downey Jnr released in 2020.
I wasn’t a sceptic because of the previous two movies starring Eddie Murphy (or maybe there were three). Nor was it because of the horrible reviews I’ve recently read, I didn’t know that it had been critiqued so poorly.
I was a sceptic because of the beautiful beautiful movie of 1967 featuring Rex Harrison as Doctor Dolittle. I really loved that movie. The songs and the animals but probably also a little because of Rex Harrison.
So when I saw there was a new movie coming out I was worried it would taint the lovely memories I have of watching the old movie at my granny’s house on video. While Mary Poppins Returns (that review is here) didn’t ruin the original movie, it certainly didn’t do it any favours!
Anyway, I’m glad to say that the movie was completely different to the original. There were one or two weird things that I will touch on but it was lovely escapism where animals are heroes and being kind to them is an important virtue to be celebrated.
We really enjoyed it so if you’re thinking about it read on to see if it is for you. I’ll try exclude spoilers and give you an indication of the good, the bad and age suitability.
TOP TIP:
If you’re taking young children to see this movie. Get them out of the theatre before the end of the credits. The strangest scene has been added and it’s completely unnecessary and may give nightmares.
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Dolittle – The Movie
This lovely movie starts out with a brief cartoon setting out the background to where the movie starts. In short, Dolittle loves animals, can talk to the animals and through his passion and ability is gifted a big estate to live by the Queen.
Dolittle is married, very happily married to an adventurer but then one day she goes on an adventure and dies. Dolittle is heart broken and becomes a recluse never leaving his estate and not letting anyone in. It’s at this point that the actual movie starts.
The Plot
Dolittle is hiding in his home, like he always does when two visitors arrive at his home. Tommy Stubbins who accidentally shot a squirrel and Lady Rose who is calling on Dolittle because the Queen needs his help.
Dolittle tries to hide from his visitors but both of them are adamant to see him and get his help.
Polly (short for Polynesia, Dr Dolittle’s parrot) overhears a conversation between Lady Rose and Stubbins and realises that if Dolittle doesn’t go off to help the Queen he could stand to lose the estate.
Polly convinces Dolittle to go to the Queen and off he goes. At the palace Dolittle realises that the Queen will die unless he travels to an isolated island to get the antidote from a special tree.
And so an amazing adventure starts, with a bad guy trying to stop Dolittle and his crew from reaching the island of course. You always need a token baddie.
En route Dolittle also has to visit another land to get a book which holds the clues to the unknown land. This sparks a whole adventure in itself.
The Characters
Humans
For an animal movie there are actually quite a lot of humans in this. I’m just going to mention the most important characters.
- Dr Dolittle of course. Played by Robert Downey Jnr. He’s perfectly crazy enough to carry off the role except for the weird accent, see below for more on that.
- Stubbins, the young boy who ultimately becomes Dolittle’s apprentice.
- Lady Rose, the queen’s messenger.
- Dr Mudfly who is the character baddie chasing after Dolittle.
- Rassouli, the king of the pirates. He has a history with Dolittle that becomes apparent. Antonio Bandaras is fantastic in the role, it’s almost the human embodiment of when he was Puss in Boots in Shrek.
The Animals
There is a slew of famous actors behind the voices of the animals, many of which you will easily recognise.
- Polynesia or Polly for short, a wise and headstrong macaw and Dolittle’s most trusted advisor. She is the one who bosses Dolittle around and one of the few he listens to. Polly is voiced by Emma Thompson.
- Chee-Chee is a loving but very anxious but noble gorilla. He’s voiced by none other than Rami Malek.
- Yoshi, the polar bear is perpetually cold and his relationship with the ostrich is hilarious. Watching him and the ostrich were the highlights of the movie for me.
- Plimpton the ostrich is so funny. He’s such a typical ostrich, trying to avoid things and sticking his head in the sand. He embodies everything I think about ostriches.
- Dab-Dab is a duck with a fake leg. She is hilarious and very misguided.
- Jip is Dolittle’s loyal dog whom he trusts explicitly.
- Kevin, the squirrel who gets shot by Stubbins is full of himself and perpetually out for revenge.
The Good
Escapism
This is pure escapism at it’s best without magicians and wizards and all the other-worldly sort of stuff. You’re taken on a beautiful adventure with the brave Dolittle with Stubbins and his crew.
The imagery is just beautiful, like movies are expected to be and this coupled with the animal engagement is just lovely. One of my favourite images involves a Whale and it’s stunning.
For young kids or children who love animals, this is just a beautiful movie that dreams are made of.
The Morals of the stories
This story has a lot of good morals and storylines woven throughout it. These can’t be overlooked as being a much needed part of what our kids are watching. There is so much that is mindless and without purpose to have these good morals as part mean that they can learn without realising.
Working together
The main thing that resonated with me throughout the movie was how harmonious the relationship was between Dolittle and the animals. For me this story has always been about that. Understanding one another and relying on each other. While it is cross-species for me that translates into working with each other and relying on each other’s strengths to keep moving forward.
Without the animals encouraging Dolittle and without their help, he would never have been able to undertake this adventure.
Perseverance
There are a few times in the story where you think Dolittle and his crew are done for and that they’ll never get to heal the Queen but each time they preserve.
To a lesser degree there is also the story of Stubbins, ill-treated at home and desperate to do what Dolittle does. He hides himself away as a stow away and eventually convinces Dolittle to let him become his apprentice. And also in the way he keeps trying and trying. He doesn’t once give up.
Forgiveness
As you will see in the movie, there is a relationship between Antonia Bandaras’ character and Dolittle. There is no love lost but Bandaras knows that he must forgive and from that forgiveness Dolittle is able to continue on the mission.
The Questionable
This category is usually called “The Bad” but this time I don’t think there is a reason to highlight any issues. There are just two things that didn’t seem to fit. They don’t affect the movie that much but they are strange.
Robert Downey Jnr’s Accent
As an adult this has to be one of the most frustrating parts of the movie. Who on earth is he trying to be. It’s very distracting and very weird. I think you get a little more used to it as the movie progresses.
Turns out my husband didn’t even notice the accent so maybe it’s just me…
The introduction of an unusual “animal”
At the end of the journey while searching for the tree Dr Dolittle and his crew come across an unusual “animal”. I don’t want to give away what it is or where it is because you’ll get a surprise. There are a few clues throughout the movie that it would make an appearance but when it does you just find yourself thinking “that is weird”, “was that necessary”.
After the credits
After the credits roll there is a scene where the baddy is attacked. It is completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the movie. The way it is portrayed is very dark and I wish my 5 year old had not seen it. It’s not overly traumatic but it’s just quiet searing and I could imagine having that picture stuck in my head.
Age Suitability
My son at 7 loved the movie as did my 5 year old daughter. I thought it was magic. There was however, a little 2/3 year old behind us who was having none of it, he was not interested in the slightest!
It’s hard to say where to draw the line with this movie in terms of age suitability because it really is family orientated but there are two aspects that may be confusing to the younger audience.
Talking to the animals
The confusion comes from how they’ve tried to explain that Dr Dolittle talks to the animals. So in the same scene they will show the animals just making animal noises and Dr Dolittle making animals noises, but then in the same breath they show him talking normally and the animals talking. At first it felt like just a “glitch in the matrix” but then it made sense.
It’s not really a problem because small kids probably don’t need to create the distinction to get the joy out of the movie.
Sub-titles
There are sub-titles in movie. Often these are just a joke but there is one part where Dolittle is talking to an octopus who tells him an important bit of information about the queen. So if they can’t read they may miss this altogether although you could just explain it to them 🙂
♦
There are heaps of other movie reviews on the website, some of the more recent ones include:
