Content deleted Content added
YuckieDuck (talk | contribs) mNo edit summary |
|||
| (221 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|Animated television series}}
{{Convert to Episode table}}{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
| caption =
| genre = [[Cartoon series]]
| creator = {{plainlist|
*[[David H. DePatie]]
*[[Friz Freleng]]
*[[Lennie Weinrib]]
*Paul Harrison
}}
| director = {{plainlist|
*Oscar Dufau
*Grant Simmons
*Art Davis
*Sid Marcus
*Gerry Chiniquy
*Lars Calonius
*David Detiege
*Jim Pabian
*Hawley Pratt
}}
| developer =
| presenter =
| starring =
| voices = {{plainlist|
*[[Bob Holt (actor)|Bob Holt]]
*[[Don Messick]]
*[[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]]
*[[Robert Towers]]
*[[Lennie Weinrib]]
}}
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer = [[Leslie Bricusse]]
| opentheme = "[[Talk to the Animals]]" by [[Leslie Bricusse]]<br>Sung by [[Bob Holt (actor)|Bob Holt]] and [[Lennie Weinrib]]
| endtheme = "[[Talk to the Animals]]" (instrumental)
| composer = Doug Goodwin
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 17
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer = {{plainlist|
*[[David H. DePatie]]
*[[Friz Freleng]]
| writer = Paul Harrison
*[[Lennie Weinrib]]}}
| runtime = 30 min.
| company = {{plainlist|
*[[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]]
*[[20th Television|20th Century Fox Television]]}}
| network = [[NBC]]
| first_aired = {{start date|1970|9|12}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1971|9|2}}
| related =
}}
'''''Doctor Dolittle''''' (also known as ''The Further Adventures of Dr. Dolittle'') is a 1970–1971 [[Saturday-morning cartoon|Saturday morning animated]] series produced by [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]] in association with [[20th Century Fox Television]].<ref name="Perlmutter">{{Cite book |last=Perlmutter |first=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=224}}</ref> The series is loosely based on the books by [[Hugh Lofting]], as well as the 1967 [[Doctor Dolittle (1967 film)|film of the same title]] which center around [[Doctor Dolittle]], an animal doctor who has the ability to talk to animals.<ref name="Daytime">{{Cite book |last=Hyatt |first=Wesley |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofda00hyat/page/170/mode/2up |title=The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television |date=1997 |publisher=Watson-Guptill Publications |isbn=978-0823083152 |page=170 |access-date=19 March 2020}}</ref>
The show was created for television by [[David H. DePatie]] and [[Friz Freleng]] in association with Paul Harrison and [[Lennie Weinrib]]. The series was broadcast on the [[NBC]] network. An altered version of the song "Talk to the Animals" was heard during the opening credits.
The series only has a DVD release in Germany from Pidax.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.pidax-film.de/Gesamtkatalog/Doktor-Dolittle::1412.html | title=Doktor Dolittle}}</ref>
==Synopsis==
Doctor Dolittle travels around the world on his ship called the Flounder to help out any sick animal in need. He is aided in his missions by his first mate, young sailor Tommy Stubbins. They share the ship with its animal crew.<ref name="Woolery">{{Cite book |last=Woolery |first=George W. |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/114/mode/2up |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5 |pages=115–116 |access-date=14 March 2020}}</ref>
Wherever Doctor Dolittle's ship was, [[Piracy|Sub-Mar]] Island was never far behind. A disguised [[submarine]], Sub-Mar Island is actually the stronghold of Sam Scurvy and his pirate crew.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=353–354}}</ref> The pirates dress in an unusual mixture of old-fashioned pirate and gangster gear. The pirate crew were also a branch of the Democratic Order of Pirates International (or "DOPI" for short). Sam Scurvy has one goal in life: world domination. He believes that if he can get the secret to talking to animals from Doctor Dolittle, he will be able to raise an army of "creepy creatures" to help him take over the world. By using his eavesdropping device the Sneaky Snorkel, Scurvy gets wind of Doctor Dolittle's latest missions and then plots to hinder, disrupt, or even kidnap the Doctor, Tommy, or any one of his animals, in order to force him to reveal how he is capable of talking to animals. However, due to Doctor Dolittle's skills as well as the pirates' ineptitude, they never succeed.
==Characters==
{{main|List of Doctor Dolittle characters}}
* '''[[Doctor Dolittle]]''' (voiced by [[Bob Holt (actor)|Bob Holt]] in an English accent impersonating [[Rex Harrison]]) - an animal doctor who can talk to animals.
* '''Tommy Stubbins''' (voiced by [[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]] in an English accent) - a sailor and Doctor Dolittle's first mate who can also talk to animals.
* '''Chee-Chee''' (voiced by [[Don Messick]]) - the cabin [[monkey]].
* '''Dab-Dab''' - a [[duck]] who is also the ship's cook.
* '''Polynesia''' - the Doctor's pet [[parrot]] who taught him how to talk to animals.
* '''The Pushmi-Pullyu''' (voiced by [[Don Messick]]) - a [[llama]] which has two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. It serves as the ship's lookout where it would often warn Dr. Dolittle about the approaching pirates. One head has a blue collar, while the other has an orange collar and wears glasses.
* '''Too-Too''' - the wise [[owl]].
* '''Jip''' (voiced by [[Don Messick]]) - the Doctor's pet [[dog]].
* '''George and the Grasshoppers''' - a rock group of [[grasshopper]]s that lives inside Doctor Dolittle's medicine case and are led by '''George''' (voiced by [[Lennie Weinrib]]). At one point during each episode of the series, the group would launch into a rock or pop song, popping the sides of the medicine case open and using it like a stage with Doctor Dolittle's bottles of pills and medicines glowing and flashing into different psychedelic colors behind the group as they sang. The singing voices of the Grasshoppers are provided by Robbie Faldoon, Annadell, Colin Johnson, Mike Sherwood, and Glyn Nelson.
* '''Sam Scurvy''' (voiced by [[Lennie Weinrib]] in a Brooklyn accent) - the leader of a faction of pirates of the organization D.O.P.I. who plans to learn how to talk to animals so that he can take over the world. Sam Scurvy wears a fedora and a business suit.
** '''Cyclops''' - a hulking dimwit pirate with an eyepatch over his good eye.
** '''Zig-Zag''' (voiced by [[Lennie Weinrib]]) - an uptight French pirate.
** '''Nico''' (voiced by [[Don Messick]]) - an Italian pirate.
** '''Miko''' - a Chinese pirate.
==Episodes==
{| class=wikitable style="width:95%; background:#FFFFFF"
! style="background:#FFA500; width:20px"| Nº
! style="background:#FFA500"| Title
! style="background:#FFA500"| Directed by
! style="background:#FFA500; width:135px"| Air date
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 1
| Title = The Grasshoppers Are Coming, Hooray, Hooray!
| DirectedBy = Hawley Pratt, Oscar Dufau
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|9|12}}
| ShortSummary = The pirates will stop at nothing to learn the Doctor's secret. They track him to Grasshopper Island, where he has gone to treat the entire grasshopper population who have lost their voices after munching on poisoned grass. When the Doctor and Tommy are taken prisoner, only the insects can save them.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 2
| Title = The Bird Who Was Afraid to Fly
| DirectedBy = Gerry Chiniquy, Grant Simmons
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|9|19}}
| ShortSummary = Montgomery the gooney bird suffers from a chronic lack of confidence and simply cannot take to the air, although he tries to convince Doctor Dolittle it is more of a lack of interest. His chance to be a hero comes when the Doctor gets into a fix and Montgomery has to summon the animals to the rescue.
| LineColor = FFA569
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 3
| Title = The Land of the Tiger Moo
| DirectedBy = Oscar Dufau, Art Davis
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|9|26}}
| ShortSummary = The creatures of a Florida swamp are upset by an agitated alligator for whom the cure is milk from the Tiger-Moo, a hybrid of a cattle and a tiger. But when the Doctor travels to Tiger-Moo Island to acquire the milk, he finds the pirates have arrived there first and now the unique animal is in danger...
| LineColor = FFA477
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 4
| Title = The Great Turkey Race
| DirectedBy = Gerry Chiniquy, Grant Simmons
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|10|3}}
| ShortSummary = Polynesia's old friend Toots the Turkey attempts to escape from the Sandwich Island turkey farm. When she is captured before escaping, she becomes the first prize in the [[Thanksgiving]] Ocean race. Dolittle enters the Flounder in the race knowing he has to win to save Toots—but runs into some engine trouble along the way.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 5
| Title = The Peanut Conspiracy
| DirectedBy = Lars Calonius, Sid Marcus
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|10|10}}
| ShortSummary = Eric the elephant is allergic to peanuts, so the Doctor needs to find some Peanut-Cillin. Along with Tommy and Chee-Chee, he visits the jungle drugstore—run by a very strange pharmacist—but only peanut oil is at hand. The Doctor's plan is to make the medicine using green-scented mushrooms mixed with the oil, so Tommy and Chee-Chee set out to pick them. Behind those giant mushrooms, though, lurks a trap...
| LineColor = FFA503
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 6
| Title = The Bare Bear
| DirectedBy = Sid Marcus, Oscar Dufau
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|10|17}}
| ShortSummary = Dolittle heads for the Bering Strait to assist the thin-skinned polar bears living there who have lost their fur and are freezing. He concocts a special formula to restore their fur coats. With the pirates trying to steal his medicine, it looks like the Doctor will need help from the local Mountie.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 7
| Title = High Flying Hippo
| DirectedBy = Lars Calonius, Art Davis
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|10|24}}
| ShortSummary = Hannah the overweight hippo is not looking where she is going and falls down a mountain. Fortunately, she lands on a ledge. A pair of eagles spot her, summon the Doctor, and they help him up onto the ledge to treat Hannah. The ingenious Doctor contrives a makeshift balloon for getting them all off the crumbling mountain, but as they are about to go, Hannah loses her nerve.
| LineColor = FFA539
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 8
| Title = The Near-Sighted Bull
| DirectedBy = Grant Simmons, Gerry Chiniquy
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|10|31}}
| ShortSummary = The group are in Spain sourcing supplies for the ''Flounder'' when Romeo, the bull who cannot see a thing, goes on a rampage and ends in the water. After the crew rescue the animal, his owner Don Carlos asks Doctor Dolittle for help. The Doctor provides Romeo with glasses which somehow transform him into the best bull in town and now he must enter the ring in the fiesta, where Scurvy is posing as the matador and has taken the bull's glasses.
| LineColor = FFA504
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 9
| Title = The Silver Seals of the Circus
| DirectedBy = Grant Simmons, David Detiege
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|11|7}}
| ShortSummary = Stanley and Cyrus, two performing seals, are injured in a fall during a show and send for Doctor Dolittle. With the seals out of action, it is up to the Pushmi-Pullyu to save the circus. Meanwhile, the pirates trick their way into the big top disguised as trapeze artists. Once inside, they use clown costumes in their latest attempt to steal the Doctor's secret with a determined sheriff on their tail.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 10
| Title = A Girl for Greco Gorilla
| DirectedBy = Art Davis, Gerry Chiniquy
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|11|14}}
| ShortSummary = The Doctor and Tommy are visiting a zoo in Ireland where they encounter Greco, a lonely and homesick gorilla whom they agree to take back to Africa. Aboard the ship, it is discovered he is also pining for a mate. So they resolve to find Greco a girlfriend. In the jungle, Greco sees his dreamboat and chases her, but then the Doctor and Tommy meet attractive gorilla Raquel...and they quickly realize the female Greco's after is not who she seems to be.
| LineColor = FFA514
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 11
| Title = A Tail of Two Snails
| DirectedBy = Oscar Dufau, Lars Calonius
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|11|21}}
| ShortSummary = Oil pollution has destroyed the habitat of Hamilton, the last of the Giant Pink Sea Snails, and has also meant there are no sea-cumbers which are his only food source. Dolittle plans to tow the snail to Sea-Cumber Island, with a cargo of three tons of sea-cumbers cut from the ocean bed by the swordfish. All is going well until the appearance of a second giant snail...only this one's on wheels and hides the pirates inside.
| LineColor = FFA544
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 12
| Title = A Fox Called... Sherlock?
| DirectedBy = Sid Marcus, Grant Simmons
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|11|28}}
| ShortSummary = As the crew are taking the opening tour of the Doctor Dolittle Wax Museum, Jip is "dog-napped" by the pirates. The Doctor, Tommy, and the animals enlist the help of Sherlock the fox sleuth to crack the case and rescue Jip. But time is short—eight hours to be precise. Further confusion arises when the pirates use Jip to create a second statue of the dog.
| LineColor = FFA567
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 13
| Title = The Tomb of the Phoenix Bird
| DirectedBy = Oscar Dufau, Grant Simmons
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|12|5}}
| ShortSummary = Polynesia tells of the legend of the [[Phoenix (mythology)|Phoenix]], a supposedly mythical creature who comes back to life once every hundred years. As the fateful day approaches, the group head off to Egypt to verify the tale and find out if the animal really exists. Scurvy and his men are there too and capture the Doctor with the use of a fake 'pyramid'... but help is at hand from one magical bird set to have the time of his century.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 14
| Title = The Barnyard Rumble
| DirectedBy = Gerry Chiniquy, Art Davis
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|12|12}}
| ShortSummary = In Mid-West America, Cogburn the rooster loses his voice and cannot wake up the barnyard. The Doctor diagnoses laryngitis. After the treatment, the Doctor finds that Cogburn cannot stop talking, a useful talent when a band of motorcyclists turn up looking to cause mayhem.
| LineColor = FFA500
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 15
| Title = The Baffled Buffalo
| DirectedBy = Lars Calonius, Sid Marcus
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|12|19}}
| ShortSummary = The ''Flounder'' is docked in Washington, D.C. when the Doctor is summoned by the [[President of the United States]]. He requests that the Doctor goes West to find a buffalo to be the model for a special commemorative medallion, a mission made harder by a runaway train, a buffalo deeply mistrustful of all humans and a posse of 'Indians' who look worryingly familiar...
| LineColor = FFA481
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 16
| Title = A Hatful of Rabbit
| DirectedBy = Jim Pabian, Gerry Chiniquy
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1970|12|26}}
| ShortSummary = While in London preparing for another leg of the round-the-world trip, the Doctor is called to treat a hyperactive rabbit which is part of a magician's act. The group then attend the magic show, unaware that it has been taken over by the pirates. Disguised as the magician, Scurvy selects an audience volunteer to help with the disappearing trick.
| LineColor = FFA517
}}
{{Episode list
| EpisodeNumber = 17
| Title = The Bird from O.O.P.S.
| DirectedBy = Art Davis, Sid Marcus
| OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1971|1|9}}
| ShortSummary = As a birthday gift from his people, the Maharajah Sheldon will receive his weight in diamonds, but for his mum, Sheldon is 'all skin and bone' and thus will not earn her many jewels. She plans to fatten him up by feeding him a rare ogle-bird egg that is so rare, in fact, it is the only one in existence. The Doctor tries to save the ogle-bird from extinction, but Scurvy's levitation device might help the pirates to make off with the prize.
| LineColor = FFA580
}}
|}
==Cast==
* [[Bob Holt (actor)|Bob Holt]] – [[Dr. John Dolittle]]
* [[Hal Smith (actor)|Hal Smith]] – Tommy Stubbins
* [[Lennie Weinrib]] – Sam Scurvy, Zig-Zag, George Grasshopper
* [[Don Messick]] – Jip the Dog, Pushmi-Pullyu, Chee-Chee, Nico
* [[Robert Towers]] – additional voices
==Syndication problems==
The series has never been shown in syndication in recent years, possibly{{weasel inline|date=June 2019}} due to the [[politically incorrect]] stereotypes of the pirate crew, as well as the strong drug implications present during George and the Grasshoppers' rock and pop numbers.
It first appeared on [[United Kingdom|British]] TV on [[BBC|BBC1]] on Thursday, 25 November 1971. It was dubbed in [[Sinhalese language|Sinhala]] in [[Sri Lanka]] as "Dosthara Hoda hitha".
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
* [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0204086/ ''Doctor Dolittle''] at [[Internet Movie Database]]
{{DePatie-Freleng Enterprises}}
{{Doctor Dolittle}}
{{Children's programming on NBC in the 1970s}}
[[Category:1970s American animated television series]]
[[Category:1970s American children's television series]]
[[Category:1970 American animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1971 American television series endings]]
[[Category:American children's animated fantasy television series]]
[[Category:American English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Television series by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]]
[[Category:Television series by 20th Century Fox Television]]
[[Category:Animated television shows based on films]]
[[Category:Animated musical groups]]
[[Category:Television shows based on British novels]]
[[Category:Doctor Dolittle]]
[[Category:NBC animated television series]]
| |||