Doctor Dolittle is a 1967 American musical fantasy film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, Anthony Newley, and Richard Attenborough. It was adapted by Leslie Bricusse from the Doctor Dolittle novel series by Hugh Lofting, primarily The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920), The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), and Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924).

Plot

In 1845, in the small port town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, England, Doctor John Dolittle works as a veterinarian and can talk to animals. A former medical doctor, Dolittle lives with a menagerie. The animals he kept in his home created havoc with his human patients who began to go elsewhere for their medical needs. His sister, who served as his housekeeper, demanded that he dispose of the animals or she would leave. He chose the animals. Dolittle's talking macaw Polynesia can speak over 2,000 animal languages. She offered to teach Dolittle so he could become an animal doctor. Dolittle can now speak nearly 500 animal languages and is in the process of learning how to speak with sea creatures for an upcoming expedition to search for the legendary Great Pink Sea Snail.

Awards