list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Dr. Dolittle on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Dr_Dolittle/118428/default.aspx Title: Dr. Dolittle
Year: 1998
Director: Betty Thomas
Plot: Betty Thomas directed this adaptation of the classic children's stories by Hugh Lofting (1886-1947), updating the original concepts into the present day. When noted surgeon Dr. John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) swerves his car to avoid hitting a dog, he hits his head on the windshield, triggering his long-dormant gift for holding conversations with animals. Friends, associates and his wife Lisa (Kristen Wilson), all express concern, but Dr. Dolittle is happy as he takes on new animal clients. Soon Dolittle's clinic becomes a haven for talking rats, birds, and other assorted members of the animal kingdom, and Dolittle's new four-legged and furry friends, in turn, teach him a few things about being human. The effects seamlessly combine Jim Henson Creature Shop animatronics, computer graphics, and real animals, but some viewers might yearn for a return of the Great Pink Sea Snail and Lofting's other imaginative creatures. The 1967 20th Century Fox musical Dr. Dolittle starred Rex Harrison in a strange storyline that began with Dolittle escaping from a lunatic asylum and leaving the Victorian village Puddleby-by-the-Marsh, England, to search the South Seas for the Great Pink Sea Snail. Along the way, he gathered diverse Dolittle denizens and animal anomalies, including the Giant Moon Moth and the famed, two-headed Pushmi-Pullyu. The earlier film spawned the Oscar-winning popular song success, "Talk To The Animals," along with numerous now-forgotten toys, books, and collectibles. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 13
Number of Lists: 10
Number of blog posts: 2
SpoutRating: 2
]]>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:00:50 GMTDr. Dolittle1998Betty Thomas<a href="/players/P___114011/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Betty Thomas</a> directed this adaptation of the classic children's stories by Hugh Lofting (1886-1947), updating the original concepts into the present day. When noted surgeon Dr. John Dolittle (<a href="/players/P____51440/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Eddie Murphy</a>) swerves his car to avoid hitting a dog, he hits his head on the windshield, triggering his long-dormant gift for holding conversations with animals. Friends, associates and his wife Lisa (Kristen Wilson), all express concern, but Dr. Dolittle is happy as he takes on new animal clients. Soon Dolittle's clinic becomes a haven for talking rats, birds, and other assorted members of the animal kingdom, and Dolittle's new four-legged and furry friends, in turn, teach him a few things about being human. The effects seamlessly combine Jim Henson Creature Shop animatronics, computer graphics, and real animals, but some viewers might yearn for a return of the Great Pink Sea Snail and Lofting's other imaginative creatures. The 1967 20th Century Fox musical Dr. Dolittle starred <a href="/players/P____30718/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Rex Harrison</a> in a strange storyline that began with Dolittle escaping from a lunatic asylum and leaving the Victorian village Puddleby-by-the-Marsh, England, to search the South Seas for the Great Pink Sea Snail. Along the way, he gathered diverse Dolittle denizens and animal anomalies, including the Giant Moon Moth and the famed, two-headed Pushmi-Pullyu. The earlier film spawned the Oscar-winning popular song success, "Talk To The Animals," along with numerous now-forgotten toys, books, and collectibles. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide13Tag Target (>10)1022http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t50936eg57g.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Dr_Dolittle/118428/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/7/16/32629.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 7/16/2008 2:00:50 PM
Body: The latest Eddie Murphy comedy, Meet Dave, debuted at a dismal 7th place this past weekend with only $5.3 million (on Monday it had already dropped down to #8), marking the worst wide-release opening for the actor since The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Can you spot the connection between these two movies? If you noted that they’re both sci-fi comedies, you’re smarter than the average movie exec, apparently. After comedy subgenre failures like Pluto Nash and Vampire in Brooklyn, you’d think producers would have known better than to cast the broad comedy star in something like Meet Dave. Actually, its distributor, Fox, may have started growing wise to the issue when it threw away the original title, Starship Dave. A few writers have now addressed some of the reasons why Meet Dave failed, and it should be clear how to avoid such a bomb in the future. At the L.A. Times, Patrick Goldstein argues the sci-fi comedy case, though figured out the subgenre can sometimes go blockbuster, as the Men in Black movies show us. He also notes all the horrible crap that Fox has been putting out lately, displaying how shocking it is that this particular film did so much more poorly than garbage like Alvin and the Chipmunks and even What Happens in Vegas. Still, there seems to be some debate over whether or not Meet Dave suffered from actually being a sci-fi comedy or from Fox’s failure to own up to the fact and market it as such. Meanwhile, at Defamer, Stu Van Airsdale offers the simple idea that kids today just don’t give a rats ass about Eddie Murphy. And neither does anyone else. But enough people cared to allow Norbit to come really close to grossing a million bucks, and the people tend to enjoy him, as Anne Thompson claims, when he’s in disguise (of course, he also makes big bucks when his face is visible and he’s surrounded by talking animals or rambunctious kids). Considering his recent Oscar nomination (for Dreamgirls), he probably just needs to go serious for a bit. Or merely stay away from the spacemen roles. It’s definitely not too late for Murphy, despite Vulture blog’s call for his retirement. Personally, I stayed away from Meet Dave because it seemed a lot like a cross between What Planet Are You From? and Innerspace, neither of which I particularly enjoyed (well, I have a soft spot for the latter as a huge Joe Dante fan). That, and I guess I’m in the Stu-designated camp since I haven’t bothered with any of Murphy’s films since I Spy (and honestly I stopped caring after The Distinguished Gentleman — I didn’t even see Beverly Hills Cop III). As for the people who have cared in the past, neither the little kids nor the older fans likely saw any appeal in Meet Dave. Maybe Murphy needs to decide to go directly for the family films or directly for the raunchy stuff (it still works well enough for Martin Lawrence and others). Trying for the middle clearly isn’t working. What was your reason for avoiding the flop? The star? The subgenre? The fact that a ton of other bigger blockbusters are out right now? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:00:50 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com7/16/2008 2:00:50 PMThe latest Eddie Murphy comedy, Meet Dave, debuted at a dismal 7th place this past weekend with only $5.3 million (on Monday it had already dropped down to #8), marking the worst wide-release opening for the actor since The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Can you spot the connection between these two movies? If you noted that they’re both sci-fi comedies, you’re smarter than the average movie exec, apparently. After comedy subgenre failures like Pluto Nash and Vampire in Brooklyn, you’d think producers would have known better than to cast the broad comedy star in something like Meet Dave. Actually, its distributor, Fox, may have started growing wise to the issue when it threw away the original title, Starship Dave. A few writers have now addressed some of the reasons why Meet Dave failed, and it should be clear how to avoid such a bomb in the future. At the L.A. Times, Patrick Goldstein argues the sci-fi comedy case, though figured out the subgenre can sometimes go blockbuster, as the Men in Black movies show us. He also notes all the horrible crap that Fox has been putting out lately, displaying how shocking it is that this particular film did so much more poorly than garbage like Alvin and the Chipmunks and even What Happens in Vegas. Still, there seems to be some debate over whether or not Meet Dave suffered from actually being a sci-fi comedy or from Fox’s failure to own up to the fact and market it as such. Meanwhile, at Defamer, Stu Van Airsdale offers the simple idea that kids today just don’t give a rats ass about Eddie Murphy. And neither does anyone else. But enough people cared to allow Norbit to come really close to grossing a million bucks, and the people tend to enjoy him, as Anne Thompson claims, when he’s in disguise (of course, he also makes big bucks when his face is visible and he’s surrounded by talking animals or rambunctious kids). Considering his recent Oscar nomination (for Dreamgirls), he probably just needs to go serious for a bit. Or merely stay away from the spacemen roles. It’s definitely not too late for Murphy, despite Vulture blog’s call for his retirement. Personally, I stayed away from Meet Dave because it seemed a lot like a cross between What Planet Are You From? and Innerspace, neither of which I particularly enjoyed (well, I have a soft spot for the latter as a huge Joe Dante fan). That, and I guess I’m in the Stu-designated camp since I haven’t bothered with any of Murphy’s films since I Spy (and honestly I stopped caring after The Distinguished Gentleman — I didn’t even see Beverly Hills Cop III). As for the people who have cared in the past, neither the little kids nor the older fans likely saw any appeal in Meet Dave. Maybe Murphy needs to decide to go directly for the family films or directly for the raunchy stuff (it still works well enough for Martin Lawrence and others). Trying for the middle clearly isn’t working. What was your reason for avoiding the flop? The star? The subgenre? The fact that a ton of other bigger blockbusters are out right now? Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/6/11/31116.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 6/11/2008 2:00:51 PM
Body: I don’t know what is the worse idea, an all-CGI 3-D Smurfs movie, as Paramount had planned, or a CGI/live-action mix, as Sony Animation is now planning for our beloved blue communists friends. I guess if we only think back to Alvin and the Chipmunks and Underdog, it’s easy to think Sony’s new plan for The Smurfs is a terrible idea. But I think the second Scooby-Doo movie worked pretty well as far as cartoon adaptations go, and there’s a chance Hollywood could do a good job again, despite the majority (including Garfield: The Movie, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the first Scooby-Doo) being on the bad side. That said, I’m still no fan of the trend. However, if it must continue, I think it would be interesting to see any of the following 15 animated series, all of which feature the necessary mix of talking animals (or inanimate objects) and humans, turned into live-action movies with CGI characters: The Yogi Bear Show - I feel it’s inevitable that we’ll be seeing this one soon enough. And if Hollywood is feeling lazy enough, the plot can be a remake of the animated feature Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! Steve Carell will play Ranger Smith, of course. Help!…It’s the Hair Bear Bunch! - Few people remember this Yogi Bear-like series starring three hippie bears, one of whom had a straggly afro. The movie would involve the usual plot in which the bears escape from the zoo and are chased by the human zoo-keeper and his fat assistant. I’d love to see the sweet production design that goes into the bear’s bachelor pad cave. And aside from the fact that CGI bears would make the invisible motorcycle easier to work with, live-action bears have been proven to be a much worse idea (see The Country Bears). The Great Grape Ape Show - This would be kinda like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, only without the intention of making the CGI look realistic. I’m not sure what the plot would be, but going with the King Kong idea, they could probably just have Grape Ape and Beagle Beagle visit New York (or another city) to allow for plenty of accidental destruction (isn’t that the only reason Transformers‘ last act was in a city?). Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a caveman instead of a talking dog. They could probably just have a guy dressed up in a very hairy costume for the prehistoric superhero, but as long as CGI characters are bringing Hollywood so much dough, they might as well render him on a computer, too. Speed Buggy - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a talking car instead of a talking dog. And I bet audiences will be more comfortable with a CGI talking car than with a CGI talking dog. Dynomutt, Dog Wonder - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with superheroes. Hey, I hear superheroes are big at the box office this century. Actually, I’m really, really surprised we haven’t heard about this one yet. Jabberjaw - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with…. wait, I’m starting to see that most of these Hanna Barbera cartoons are a lot alike. But even more than Scooby-Doo, this would be like the live-action Josie and the Pussycats, except with the benefit of having a CGI shark who plays drums for the group. Because most of the action would take place under the sea, there’s a good chance this would be too expensive to produce. Fangface - It’s like Scooby-Doo but not made by Hanna Barbera (however, it was produced by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who also created Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw, Dynomutt and others on this list). Instead of a talking dog, here one of the mystery-solving teens is a werewolf. And despite everyone’s love for Lon Chaney Jr. and the Teen Wolf movies, Hollywood can rarely make a werewolf these days without CGI. It’s Punky Brewster - They could always just base a movie off the original sitcom (though I doubt they ever would), but wouldn’t it be much cuter if there was a CGI character? Fortunately the cartoon series had that leprechaun-gopher thing named “Glomer.” Snorks - I guess there were no humans in this cartoon, but knowing Hollywood’s ability to mess with things, some could surely be added. Either the Snorks somehow venture out of the sea or a friendly scuba diving kid finds them. Though for the latter, the budget could be too high. I wonder if the Snorks could survive out of water… Ghostbusters - Would be allowed for there to be a feature film version of Filmation’s Ghostbusters — you know, the one that wasn’t based on the REAL Ghostbusters? The one that was actually based on a TV series that came before the movie Ghostbusters? Hmm. I guess this one should really go in the list of live-action series calling for CGI/live-action treatment (like ALF…) The Archie Show - Obviously this one could be completely live-action. But that’s no fun. And that TV movie from 1990 was extremely disappointing. Solution: CGI Jughead! Rainbow Brite - Hey, I really liked Rainbow Brite when I was a kid. Is that OK to admit yet? I may have even wanted a plush toy of Twink. Or maybe I did have a plush toy of Twink. Either way, I’d be the first heterosexual male in line at the theater for this one. Rugrats - This one will only be kinda CGI. It can star real kids with CGI mouths, like what they do with animals in the Babe and Dr. Dolittle movies. Oh yeah, and what they do with babies in the Baby Geniuses movies. Of course, the animated Rugrats movies each made significantly more money than the Baby Geniuses movies, so anyone who’d actually take on this idea is an idiot. The Herculoids - I really don’t care if they make it all CGI, mixed CGI/live-action, all 2D animation, or what; all I care about is that I get to see Tundro on the big screen one day before I die. Back when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time, I thought the triceratops was really lame. But it wasn’t because it was obviously animatronic. It was because it couldn’t shoot rocks out of its horn like Tundro. The rest of the Herculoids, especially Igoo and Gloop & Gleep, would also be awesome to see in a movie. In fact, to be honest, I mostly just made this list in order to profess my desire for a Herculoids movie. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:00:51 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com6/11/2008 2:00:51 PMI don’t know what is the worse idea, an all-CGI 3-D Smurfs movie, as Paramount had planned, or a CGI/live-action mix, as Sony Animation is now planning for our beloved blue communists friends. I guess if we only think back to Alvin and the Chipmunks and Underdog, it’s easy to think Sony’s new plan for The Smurfs is a terrible idea. But I think the second Scooby-Doo movie worked pretty well as far as cartoon adaptations go, and there’s a chance Hollywood could do a good job again, despite the majority (including Garfield: The Movie, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the first Scooby-Doo) being on the bad side. That said, I’m still no fan of the trend. However, if it must continue, I think it would be interesting to see any of the following 15 animated series, all of which feature the necessary mix of talking animals (or inanimate objects) and humans, turned into live-action movies with CGI characters: The Yogi Bear Show - I feel it’s inevitable that we’ll be seeing this one soon enough. And if Hollywood is feeling lazy enough, the plot can be a remake of the animated feature Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! Steve Carell will play Ranger Smith, of course. Help!…It’s the Hair Bear Bunch! - Few people remember this Yogi Bear-like series starring three hippie bears, one of whom had a straggly afro. The movie would involve the usual plot in which the bears escape from the zoo and are chased by the human zoo-keeper and his fat assistant. I’d love to see the sweet production design that goes into the bear’s bachelor pad cave. And aside from the fact that CGI bears would make the invisible motorcycle easier to work with, live-action bears have been proven to be a much worse idea (see The Country Bears). The Great Grape Ape Show - This would be kinda like Peter Jackson’s King Kong, only without the intention of making the CGI look realistic. I’m not sure what the plot would be, but going with the King Kong idea, they could probably just have Grape Ape and Beagle Beagle visit New York (or another city) to allow for plenty of accidental destruction (isn’t that the only reason Transformers‘ last act was in a city?). Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a caveman instead of a talking dog. They could probably just have a guy dressed up in a very hairy costume for the prehistoric superhero, but as long as CGI characters are bringing Hollywood so much dough, they might as well render him on a computer, too. Speed Buggy - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with a talking car instead of a talking dog. And I bet audiences will be more comfortable with a CGI talking car than with a CGI talking dog. Dynomutt, Dog Wonder - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with superheroes. Hey, I hear superheroes are big at the box office this century. Actually, I’m really, really surprised we haven’t heard about this one yet. Jabberjaw - It’s like Scooby-Doo but with…. wait, I’m starting to see that most of these Hanna Barbera cartoons are a lot alike. But even more than Scooby-Doo, this would be like the live-action Josie and the Pussycats, except with the benefit of having a CGI shark who plays drums for the group. Because most of the action would take place under the sea, there’s a good chance this would be too expensive to produce. Fangface - It’s like Scooby-Doo but not made by Hanna Barbera (however, it was produced by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, who also created Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw, Dynomutt and others on this list). Instead of a talking dog, here one of the mystery-solving teens is a werewolf. And despite everyone’s love for Lon Chaney Jr. and the Teen Wolf movies, Hollywood can rarely make a werewolf these days without CGI. It’s Punky Brewster - They could always just base a movie off the original sitcom (though I doubt they ever would), but wouldn’t it be much cuter if there was a CGI character? Fortunately the cartoon series had that leprechaun-gopher thing named “Glomer.” Snorks - I guess there were no humans in this cartoon, but knowing Hollywood’s ability to mess with things, some could surely be added. Either the Snorks somehow venture out of the sea or a friendly scuba diving kid finds them. Though for the latter, the budget could be too high. I wonder if the Snorks could survive out of water… Ghostbusters - Would be allowed for there to be a feature film version of Filmation’s Ghostbusters — you know, the one that wasn’t based on the REAL Ghostbusters? The one that was actually based on a TV series that came before the movie Ghostbusters? Hmm. I guess this one should really go in the list of live-action series calling for CGI/live-action treatment (like ALF…) The Archie Show - Obviously this one could be completely live-action. But that’s no fun. And that TV movie from 1990 was extremely disappointing. Solution: CGI Jughead! Rainbow Brite - Hey, I really liked Rainbow Brite when I was a kid. Is that OK to admit yet? I may have even wanted a plush toy of Twink. Or maybe I did have a plush toy of Twink. Either way, I’d be the first heterosexual male in line at the theater for this one. Rugrats - This one will only be kinda CGI. It can star real kids with CGI mouths, like what they do with animals in the Babe and Dr. Dolittle movies. Oh yeah, and what they do with babies in the Baby Geniuses movies. Of course, the animated Rugrats movies each made significantly more money than the Baby Geniuses movies, so anyone who’d actually take on this idea is an idiot. The Herculoids - I really don’t care if they make it all CGI, mixed CGI/live-action, all 2D animation, or what; all I care about is that I get to see Tundro on the big screen one day before I die. Back when I saw Jurassic Park for the first time, I thought the triceratops was really lame. But it wasn’t because it was obviously animatronic. It was because it couldn’t shoot rocks out of its horn like Tundro. The rest of the Herculoids, especially Igoo and Gloop & Gleep, would also be awesome to see in a movie. In fact, to be honest, I mostly just made this list in order to profess my desire for a Herculoids movie. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/family/MemberTagFilms.aspxfamily
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