Doctor Dolittle - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Doctor Dolittle or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Doctor Dolittle

[chris]

Following the success of My Fair Lady (1964), Twentieth Century Fox originally intended for this movie to reunite Sir Rex Harrison, Alan Jay Lerner, and Frederick Loewe. Loewe had retired from writing musicals. Alan Jay Lerner was originally hired to write the script, but Arthur P. Jacobs fired him for procrastination.

[nina]

"The Reluctant Vegetarian" was one of the hardest scenes to film, mainly because of the number of animals that had to sit still for a lengthy period. The cast had hours of rehearsal and preparation before filming started. The first take went very well, until Sir Rex Harrison stopped singing. Director Richard Fleischer asked him why, and Harrison said he heard him yell "Cut!" Fleischer denied it, and they were starting to argue about it when both heard a voice yell "Cut!" The guilty party turned out to be Polynesia the Parrot. Harrison said "That's the first time I've ever been directed by a parrot. But she may be right. I probably can do it better."

[tom]

The younger cast members grew to loathe Rex Harrison for his abuse. They retaliated by antagonizing him.

[phyllis]

Sir Rex Harrison behaved so badly on-set that he was nicknamed "Tyrannosaurus Rex".

[oscar]

Producer Arthur P. Jacobs thought he could interest Sidney Poitier in the role of Bumpo, even hiring Broadway actor Gilbert Price to provide Poitier's singing voice. Poitier turned the part down, explaining, "I'm an actor, not an entertainer." Sammy Davis, Jr. was briefly considered, but Sir Rex Harrison refused to work with an "entertainer" (someone who could sing better than him). The character was ultimately removed from the movie and replaced with William Shakespeare X. Ironically, Davis, who had been bitterly disappointed by his loss of the role, had a hit recording of "Talk to the Animals".

[bernard]

This movie's massive critical and commercial failure effectively ended Sir Rex Harrison's career as a leading man on-screen. He continued to act regularly on stage.

[charlie]

This movie was photographed in 70mm Todd-AO.

[kenzi]

As set decorator Stuart A. Reiss recalled in the book "Pictures at a Revolution", the California sets had to be built on a slant so they could drain in case the animals made a mess. They also had laborers on standby with brooms. All of the furniture had to be hosed down and washed every night. There had to be duplicates of everything, even the walls, in case a big animal backed up into it or kicked it. The sets stank due to animal waste and the gallons of ammonia used to clean it. The birds were tethered to railings, but a few of them escaped and managed to get caught in the netting on the ceiling of the soundstages.

[tamara]

No one expected that shooting a scene with ducks swimming in a pond would be difficult. However, when the ducks were placed into the water, they sank. It was the wrong time of year; the ducks had lost their water-repellent feathers and couldn't swim.

[ethel]

This movie took over four years to complete.

[albert]

Sir Rex Harrison was under contract to play the title character. After the original scriptwriter and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner left, Harrison tried to back out. Christopher Plummer was hired as a replacement. When the studio successfully lured Harrison back, it paid Plummer his entire agreed-upon fee of three hundred thousand dollars to sit out the production. Harrison was wary of Leslie Bricusse writing the score, since he was an unknown quantity to him. On his own, he had English songwriters Donald Swann and Michael Flanders try their hand at songs for the movie. Swann and Flanders signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox in February 1966, and completed at least four songs ("Animalitarians", "I Won't Be King", "A Total Vegetarian", and "Goodbye to Sophie"), which Harrison recorded as demos before he heard and approved the Bricusse score.

[ava]

Samantha Eggar's singing was dubbed by Diana Lee.

[kenneth]

The giraffe Sir Rex Harrison rode was named Twigga. Exotic animal trainer Ralph Helfer saddle-broke it to ride.

[toni]

Filming in Castle Combe proved to be problematic. The producers chose to ignore reports of the area's rainy summers, except when the crew tried to film scenes set on rainy days. The weather continually interfered with shooting and caused health problems for the animals. Some of the producers' decisions, such as removing television antennas from personal residences in town, irritated the locals.

[morris]

In his 1993 autobiography, "Just Tell Me When to Cry", Director Richard Fleischer devoted an entire chapter to his horrible experiences trying to get this movie cast, made, and edited. He lays much of the blame at the feet of Twentieth Century Fox executives, who insisted on casting Sir Rex Harrison in the title role, and on Harrison, who dithered back-and-forth for a year about accepting the part and then, in Fleischer's estimation, failed to fully commit once he signed for the movie.

[ethel]

In the original cut of the movie, Dr. Dolittle (Sir Rex Harrison) and Emma Fairfax (Samantha Eggar) eventually begin a relationship. He sang "Where Are the Words?" when he realized he was falling in love with her. In a revised version, Matthew Mugg (Anthony Newley) falls for Emma, and his recording of the song is featured on the soundtrack album. Both versions were filmed and both actors recorded their respective versions, but the footage for both, as well as the vocal track by Sir Rex Harrison, have been lost. Dolittle sings "Something In Your Smile" in both scenarios when he realizes he has fallen for Emma. Harrison's vocals for the song survive, but the footage does not.

[jessie]

To influence the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members at Oscar nomination time in 1968, Twentieth Century Fox hosted several lavish dinners for Academy members, promoting the under-performing movie as a potential nominee. The strategy worked, netting the movie seven nominations, including Best Picture and a Best Original Song win for "Talk to the Animals". Similar campaigns were launched for the studio's other musical failures, Star! (1968) and Hello, Dolly! (1969), with similar results.

[tom]

Sir Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Jack Lemmon, and Sir Peter Ustinov were considered for the lead role.

[miriam]

Sir Rex Harrison suggested his friend Dame Maggie Smith for the role of Emma Fairfax. Dame Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, and Hayley Mills had been on the studio's wish list.