Doctor Dolittle

Rating:
Summary: Rex Talks TO The Animals, The Only Ones Who Listen To Him
Review: Rex is belevable as a man who would treat animals instead of humans(in real life he treated humans as animals). As the good Dr. Doolittle he is on a quest for the Great Pink Sea Snail and attempts to find it with the help of friend Michale Mugg, a young man and a prudish woman who vies for the Dr.'s affections. He also has his faithful friends Polynesia the parrot, and Chi Chi the chimp. He earns money for the voyage when he puts a pushme-pullyou in a side show and asks that he get top billing and 50% of the profits from Albert Blossom. Off course, he has time to rescue a rather sad seal named sophie(he actual croons to the seal and gives it a kiss, I think he really loved this animal) and when he throws her into the ocean(with a woman's dress on to hide her in the escape) he is accused of murder and is considered a psycho because he talks to animals. He escapes a mental health facility and sials off to find the snail. He does find it but at last he decides to live a life of solitude on Star Island with the Islander who are all named William(after Shakespear). He does sing to the young woman and reveals his feelings for her but in the end he decides it can never be. The movie has its slow points but the songs are great and Rex is great! The movie took over 1 year to make and both Chi chi and Polynesia bit Rex. Rex actually liked Chi Chi but when bitten, Rex whacked the chimp across the head and when the parrot bit him he feared he would die from some strange disease! Rex really hated this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Never Appreciated Enough
Review: This 1967 box office dud, came a few years too late to be appreciated. Although it had several Oscar nominations and a couple wins, it came at a time when musicals had fallen out of favor and had huge, overblown budgets. It still has many charms, including a very sincere performance by Rex Harrison. He talk-sings his way through the score like he did in "My Fair Lady", and actually performs many of his songs live on set. Composer/actor Anthony Newley made his American film debut and shows us all why he was such an amazing talent. The DVD looks and sounds great, if you've never seen the movie in all it's wide-screen glory, you need to see it this way. The sound is full-bodied and is very typical of 1960's sound technology. Fox always had a great sound department, and on a good sound system, you'll hear an awesome score. Highly recommended for the pre-computer effects generation. The film was cut after it's initial road-show version and there's 2 songs on the soundtrack album that are not in the film. Maybe someday the road-show version will show up again, but don't count on it. Also recommend getting the CD of the score with the missing songs.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful fantasy
Review: This is a terrific movie. It makes you feel good and makes you wish you could go on an adventure like the good Dr. Doolittle and his friends do. A great family movie night.

Rating:
Summary: PUSH-ME-PULL-YOU
Review: THIS ONE IS MUCH BETTER THAN EDDIE'S MOVIE

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Eddie Murphy...
Review: What were you thinking? I'll admit the 1998 remake was entertaining, the way "Wings" is at one o'clock in the morning when nothing else is on, but, like "The Nutty Professor" Murphy's kid-friendly remake looks like a crime against cinema when placed next to its source material. First off, this is a musical with a beautiful score by Leslie Bricusse (who wrote the songs for "Willy Wonka" and "Stop the World, I Want To Get Off" with longtime partner Anthony Newley, who stars in this film). Also, Rex Harrison WORKED to learn to talk to animals. It wasn't a magical power he was born with, the man studied! He doesn't need cheesy (if well-cast) celebrity voiceovers and computer-generated mouth-movement to convince us, either. So if you want your kids to settle for second best and, as a result, drag you to mediocre kiddy-fair after mediocre kiddy-fair (which, in the age of "The Cat in the Hat" is pretty bad) let 'em have Eddie Murphy. But if you want your kids to have taste and appreciate a quality piece of filmmaking, rent this film immediately. Even if you have no kids, buy it, rent it, whatever.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Eddie Murphy...
Review: What were you thinking? I'll admit the 1998 remake was entertaining, the way "Wings" is at one o'clock in the morning when nothing else is on, but, like "The Nutty Professor" Murphy's kid-friendly remake looks like a crime against cinema when placed next to its source material. First off, this is a musical with a beautiful score by Leslie Bricusse (who wrote the songs for "Willy Wonka" and "Stop the World, I Want To Get Off" with longtime partner Anthony Newley, who stars in this film). Also, Rex Harrison WORKED to learn to talk to animals. It wasn't a magical power he was born with, the man studied! He doesn't need cheesy (if well-cast) celebrity voiceovers and computer-generated mouth-movement to convince us, either. So if you want your kids to settle for second best and, as a result, drag you to mediocre kiddy-fair after mediocre kiddy-fair (which, in the age of "The Cat in the Hat" is pretty bad) let 'em have Eddie Murphy. But if you want your kids to have taste and appreciate a quality piece of filmmaking, rent this film immediately. Even if you have no kids, buy it, rent it, whatever.

Rating:
Summary: Surprised my kids (4 & 10) loved it so much!
Review: With all the new stuff that is out there these days, and not being happy with the content of a lot of it, I decided to get this for my kids at Christmas. To my surprise, they have asked to watch it over and over again! I guess good movies don't have to have a date on them! This is a classic! I hope your family enjoys it too!