![]() ![]() To begin with, it took one quite a while to realise that it was a face. ![]() Used as John Dolittle was to strange sights and unusual things, this vision outside the glass for a moment staggered even him. So the Doctor and his assistant, Tommy Stubbins, opened the curtains to see what was there. The evening in question was moonlit, and the Dolittle household’s members were chatting animatedly, when, abruptly, they heard a mysterious, muffled tapping sound on one of the windows. But before he had even begun this project, one of these legendary creatures unexpectedly arrived in his own garden! But – almost in the words of Al Jolson – you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!ĭoctor Dolittle’s Garden (1927), the seventh book in the series, records how, after many years of very indifferent results, the good Doctor had suddenly achieved a totally unexpected breakthrough in his longstanding studies of insect language - as a result of which he had then planned to investigate certain ancient traditions recalled by local hawk moths concerning a race of giant moths as big as houses. So far in this trilogy of ShukerNature articles on cryptids encountered by the famous if fictitious animal linguist-explorer Doctor Dolittle, created by Hugh Lofting during the early years of the 20th Century, the good Doctor has encountered such remarkable beasts as a two-headed descendant of the unicorn, a colossal cousin of the Loch Ness monster, a titanic turtle surviving from the age of Noah’s Ark, and a supposed dragon of decidedly dinosaurian persuasion. He is the author of such seminal works as Mystery Cats of the World (1989), The Lost Ark: New and Rediscovered Animals of the 20th Century (1993 greatly expanded in 2012 as The Encyclopaedia of New and Rediscovered Animals), Dragons: A Natural History (1995), In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (1995), The Unexplained (1996), From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings (1997), Mysteries of Planet Earth (1999), The Hidden Powers of Animals (2001), The Beasts That Hide From Man (2003), Extraordinary Animals Revisited (2007), Dr Shuker's Casebook (2008), Karl Shuker's Alien Zoo: From the Pages of Fortean Times (2010), Cats of Magic, Mythology, and Mystery (2012), Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), Dragons in Zoology, Cryptozoology, and Culture (2013), The Menagerie of Marvels (2014), A Manif estation of Monsters (2015), Here's Nessie! (2016), and what is widely considered to be his cryptozoological magnum opus, Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors (2016) - plus, very excitingly, his first two long-awaited, much-requested ShukerNature blog books (2019, 2020). ![]() Give it a shot for some childhood nostalgia, or see it with the family, Otherwise there are more interesting films out there.Zoologist, media consultant, and science writer, Dr Karl Shuker is also one of the best known cryptozoologists in the world. In this regard the bluray is somewhat scant in its extras.īut, like I say, for all that, the film looks sterling. I was hoping for a featurette or two on the making of the film, and how the production team managed to control or deal with all those animals, but none the such is offered. And there's a biopic on Rex Harrison himself, the star who plays Doctor Dolittle. I don't believe the DVD (which I own) came with any commentary. How close the film sticks with the source material I cannot say, but I do seem to recall that the black Africans were written as children in the original work, and the film makers go to some extra lengths to make the natives of Sea Star Island more sophisticated. I never read the original tale of Doctor Dolittle, but seem to recall a grammar school teacher reading it to the class. It is very crisp and clear and full of vibrant colors. the movie, thanks to being scanned and remastered on bluray, has never looked so good. And the old 65mm stock really brings out the colors of the film. If you're into cinematography you'll find some very sumptuous shots of the English countryside. You can make out details in clothing, the landscape, and pretty much everything if you look for it. And even though we're looking at the story of a psychiatric patient, Hollywood gives everyone a good ending, of sorts. Still, it has a certain charm, even for adults. That is I didn't understand he more adult or mature theme until a few days ago. As a child, and this is a children's film in spite of the psychiatric framework, I found it entertaining on a child's level. The rest of the movie regards a plot to free and try to help Dolittle escape the conventions of mid 19th century England, and eventually find a legendary creature. Ergo he rejects the romantic inclinations of the lovely miss Fairfax. In short he really can't deal with the real world, and so turns to animals for solace. Dolittle states at the end that he isn't very good with people, and prefers animals.
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