Doctor John Dolittle is the central character of a series of children's books by Hugh Lofting starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle . He is a physician who shuns human patients in favour of animals, with whom he can speak in their own languages. He later becomes a naturalist , using his abilities to speak with animals to better understand nature and the history of the world.
51-696: This is a list of characters from the Doctor Dolittle series of children's books by Hugh Lofting and movies based on them. Most of the characters were introduced in the first book, the 1920 novel The Story of Doctor Dolittle . Doctor John Dolittle is an English physician who became a doctor for animals after his parrot, Polynesia, taught him to speak animal languages. He lives in the fictional town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in England's West Country , along with his many animal friends. He has very few human friends and spends most of his time treating animals, travelling
102-476: A chimpanzee in the 1967 film. In the 2020 film , he appears as a gorilla voiced by Rami Malek . In the animated show , he is voiced by Don Messick . Dab-Dab is Doctor Dolittle's pet duck. After the doctor's sister, Sarah Dolittle, leaves the house in Puddleby due to her dislike of crocodiles, Dab-Dab becomes the doctor's housekeeper. She appeared in the 2020 film voiced by Octavia Spencer . She also appears in
153-466: A fidget that talks English, so he consults it and realizes that if he goes deeper, he will find the Great Glass Sea Snail. A storm wrecks the ship, leaving Tommy alone. The Purple Bird of Paradise tells him that his friends are on Spider Monkey Island. With the help of some porpoises , Tommy reaches the island and the crew. Dolittle learns after catching a Jabizri, a rare beetle, that Long Arrow
204-594: A series of worldwide adventures on the open sea. When Sophie catches up to him again, he is ensconced upon Sea Star Island. As the Great Pink Sea Snail leaves with his human and animal cargo, Sophie along with her husband and pups informs him that every animal in Puddleby has gone on strike to protest the treatment of Dolittle by General Bellows. Overjoyed, he enlists the services of the Giant Lunar Moth to help him return to Britain. In Lofting's original books,
255-579: A woman and takes her to the sea, but a villager in Brighton witnesses Dolittle throwing her off a cliff and gets him arrested for murder. The doctor is released from jail by the local magistrate, Sir William Peabody, who is an old school friend. She presumably makes it back to Alaska. In the 1967 film, Dolittle is tried and found guilty of insanity by General Bellowes, who commits him to an insane asylum. The animals catch wind of it and help Dolittle hightail it out of town before he can be incarcerated, embarking upon
306-458: Is Doctor Dolittle's first animal friend, a West African parrot. She is able to speak English and was the one who first taught Doctor Dolittle the language of animals. She always says she can never remember how old she is, but she remembers that when she came to England, she saw Charles II of England , hiding in an oak tree from the Roundheads : "he looked very frightened". Along with Chee-Chee and
357-409: Is a great lover of food. Gub Gub's Book : An Encyclopedia of Food is written as if it were a record of conversations with Gub-Gub on its contents. Jip is Doctor Dolittle's dog. He has a very keen sense of smell. In The Story of Doctor Dolittle , he was able to rescue a man stranded on an island by following the man's scent across the ocean. He appears as a Labrador Retriever in the 1967 film. In
408-593: Is a little day-book illustrated with pictures and quotations from the earlier stories. It appeared between Doctor Dolittle's Return and Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake . "Doctor Dolittle Meets a Londoner in Paris" is a short story included in The Flying Carpet , pp. 110–19 (1925), an anthology of children's short stories and poems with illustrations by Cynthia Asquith . The character entered public domain in
459-527: Is dropped; Tommy Stubbins, Dr. Dolittle's assistant, explains that he is reporting a series of Gub-Gub's discourses to the other animals of the Dolittle household around the evening fire. Stubbins also says that the full version of Gub-Gub's encyclopaedia, which was an immense and poorly-organized collection of scribblings written by the pig in a language for pigs invented by Dr. Dolittle, was too long to translate into English. Doctor Dolittle's Birthday Book (1936)
510-456: Is missing. They play the game Blind Travel, which would determine where in the world they would voyage. They decide to take a trip to Spider Monkey Island to find Long Arrow. The Doctor, Tommy, Bumpo, and Polynesia start the voyage across the sea, but they discover stowaways and leave them at Penzance . They subsequently stop in the Capa Blanca islands of Spain . The Doctor makes a deal with
561-542: Is nicknamed "Willy" and was played by Geoffrey Holder in the 1967 film. He never appeared in any of Lofting's original books and is loosely based on Prince Bumpo. Sarah Dolittle is John Dolittle's sister and former housekeeper, first featured in The Story of Doctor Dolittle . When Dolittle allows the crocodile to reside on his premises, which scares his clients away and throws the household back into poverty, she leaves in disgust and gets married when Dolittle refuses to evict
SECTION 10
#1732883508483612-463: Is owned by General Bellowes. This enormous undersea mollusk with a transparent airtight shell is injured when the mysterious floating Spider Monkey Island finally comes to rest in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle . The animals arrange for him to ferry Dr. Dolittle and his party back through the ocean to Puddleby. In the 1967 film, Dolittle resigns himself to living abroad for the rest of his life due to
663-508: Is stuck inside Hawk's Head Mountain. They try to find an opening, but they fail. They use the Jabizri to locate it. When they find a slab in the mountain, they dig under it until it collapses, and Long Arrow is free. The Doctor learns from the people of the island that the island is moving southward and is about to perish, so the Doctor asks some whales to push it back to South America . After this,
714-460: Is the second of Hugh Lofting 's Doctor Dolittle books. Published in 1922, the writing style is aimed at a more mature audience and features more sophisticated illustrations than its predecessor. The novel's scope is vast; it is nearly five times as long as its predecessor and is divided into six parts. It won the Newbery Medal for 1923. Along with other novels in the series, it was adapted into
765-412: Is voiced by Bob Holt . In the 1984 series, The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle , he is voiced by John Stephenson . Thomas "Tommy" Stubbins is a boy from Puddleby who, after taking an injured squirrel to Doctor Dolittle, becomes the doctor's friend and assistant. His father is the doctor's favourite shoemaker. He first appears in the 1922 novel The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle and acts as the narrator in all
816-451: Is voiced by Don Messick . The 1998 Eddie Murphy film has a brief scene where a pushmi-pullyu is walking in the background while Dr. Dolittle talks to the tiger in the cage. This is in keeping with the fact that Eddie Murphy 's version is only very loosely based on the books. Toggle is a visually-impaired plowhorse who gets spectacles in The Story of Doctor Dolittle . In the 1967 film, he
867-490: The 2020 film , he appears as an Irish Wolfhound and wears glasses, and is voiced by Tom Holland . In the 1998 movie and all four of its sequels , Dolittle has a different dog named Lucky (voiced by Norm MacDonald ). Jip also appears in the animated show , voiced by Don Messick . Chee-Chee is a monkey from Africa whom Doctor Dolittle buys from an organ-grinder in The Story of Doctor Dolittle . His name apparently means "ginger" in monkey language. He appears as
918-627: The Cats'-Meat Man . The animal team includes Polynesia (a parrot ), Gub-Gub (a pig ), Jip (a dog ), Dab-Dab (a duck ), Chee-Chee (a monkey ), Too-Too (an owl ), the Pushmi-pullyu , and a white mouse later named simply "Whitey". Later on, in the 1925 novel Doctor Dolittle's Zoo , Whitey founds (with the doctor's help) the Rat and Mouse Club , whose membership eventually reaches some 5,000 rats and mice. One inspiration for his character appears to be
969-485: The animated show , where she is depicted as the ship's cook. Too-Too is the doctor's pet owl. He acts as the doctor's accountant and can tell the doctor immediately how much money he has in the money box. Too-Too appears in the animated TV series Doctor Dolittle . Cheapside is a Cockney sparrow from East London . He often visits the doctor, to gossip or bring important news. He is notorious for using bad language. Cheapside and his wife Becky live at St. Paul's , in
1020-415: The bullfighters that if he can win a fight against them, they will stop bullfighting. Bumpo makes a side bet of 3,000 pesetas that the Doctor will win. The Doctor talks to the bulls and they agreed to stick to the plan to make everyone think that he outwitted them. When the fight is over and the doctor wins against the other bullfighters, the crew resumes their voyage. The Doctor shows Tommy he has caught
1071-552: The 1967 film Doctor Dolittle . In England , Tommy Stubbins (the narrator) finds a squirrel injured by a hawk. Matthew Mugg, the Cat's-Meat Man, suggests he seek help from Doctor Dolittle, who can speak to animals. The Doctor is away on a voyage, but when he returns, he attends the squirrel. Tommy is introduced to some of the strange animals in Dolittle's care, such as the Wiff-Waff fish, and those who care for his household, such as Dab-Dab
SECTION 20
#17328835084831122-498: The 1967 film, he became General Bellowes , a retired military commander and a magistrate, played by Peter Bull . He loathes any sort of new, unusual, or odd ideas, including veterinary science; he rejects that a veterinarian can talk to animals. He owns several dogs, horses and other animals, all of whom betray their owner when Dolittle queries them at his trial about their owner's excesses of food, drink and female companionship. General Bellowes deals harshly with Dolittle, who then flees
1173-645: The 1990s, which allowed for the legal creation of derivative works based on it without the need to acquire permission from the Lofting estate, which was required previously. For example, in April 2021, the Japanese biologist Shinichi Fukuoka created a new story Dr. Dolittle Saves Galápagos Islands which appeared in The Asahi Shimbun . The main events of The Story of Doctor Dolittle take place in 1819 or 1820, although
1224-516: The Doctor is told by the Popsipetels, the people of the island, that they will be attacked soon by their rivals the Bag-jagderags. The Doctor uses the birds of the island as well as the Popsipetels to battle the Bag-jagderags. The Doctor and his army win. The people then decide to crown him king. For many months, the doctor rules the island and makes good changes for the Popsipetels. Polynesia finds
1275-513: The Doctor's. Bumpo is recognisable by his green umbrella and bare feet - not used to wearing shoes, he usually discards them. He was originally supposed to appear in the 1967 film intact, but casting problems eventually led to his character being considerably softened and renamed as "William Shakespeare the Tenth", played by Geoffrey Holder . Colonel Bellowes is a snobbish old man in Puddleby who appears briefly in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle . In
1326-608: The Giant Moth named Jamaro Bumblelily makes the arduous trip between Earth and the Moon in Doctor Dolittle's Garden and Doctor Dolittle in the Moon . In the 1967 film, the Giant Lunar Moth travels regularly back and forth between Earth and the Moon. When Doctor Dolittle gets good news from England that the animals have gone on strike and General Bellows has decided to pardon Doctor Dolittle, he ends his exile on Sea Star Island by persuading
1377-422: The Great Glass Sea Snail and brings her to Dolittle. He talks to the Great Glass Sea Snail and learns that it is because of the island colliding with South America that it ends up on the shores of Spider Monkey Island. The Doctor, Polynesia, Tommy, Matthew, Chee-Chee and Jip leave Spider Monkey Island. They journey to England through the ocean in the shell of the Great Glass Sea Snail. They return to Puddleby, and, at
1428-515: The Green Canary (1950). Only then follows the second book, The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922), continued by Doctor Dolittle's Zoo (1925). After that, the publishing order is restored; Doctor Dolittle's Garden (1927) is followed by Doctor Dolittle in the Moon (1928) and Doctor Dolittle's Return (1933), ending with Doctor Dolittle and the Secret Lake (1948). Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923) can't be placed anywhere in
1479-561: The Hermit. They find out from the Hermit's dog, Bob, that Luke was sent to prison for murder. During court proceedings, Dolittle proves to the judge he can talk to animals by talking to Bob, an animal witness, and translates Bob's story to English. The Hermit is then acquitted by the jury. Later, the Purple Bird of Paradise informs the Doctor that Long Arrow, son of Golden Arrow (a friend of the Doctor)
1530-543: The North Pole in April 1809, and already knew how to speak to some species of animals at that date, suggesting that the early chapters of The Story of Doctor Dolittle take place before that date. However, it is possible that the internal chronology is not consistent. The internal chronology of the books is somewhat different from the publishing order. The first book is followed by Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924), Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (1926), and Doctor Dolittle and
1581-636: The Scottish surgeon John Hunter . The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar Life at Home and Astonishing Adventures in Foreign Parts Never Before Printed (1920) begins the series. The sequel The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922) won the prestigious Newbery Medal . The next three, Doctor Dolittle's Post Office (1923), Doctor Dolittle's Circus (1924), and Doctor Dolittle's Caravan (1926) take place during and/or after
List of Doctor Dolittle characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
1632-504: The author's illustrated letters to his children, written from the trenches during World War I when actual news, he later said, was either too horrible or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England , where Doctor John Dolittle lives in the fictional English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country . Doctor Dolittle has a few close human friends, including his young assistant Tommy Stubbins , and Matthew Mugg ,
1683-401: The books that take place after his arrival. He is portrayed by William Dix in the 1967 film, and by Harry Collett in the 2020 film. In the animated TV series from 1970, he is voiced by Hal Smith . In the 1984 series, The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle , he is voiced by B. J. Ward . Matthew Mugg is the cat's-meat-man from Puddleby. He is a friend of Doctor Dolittle and helps to take care of
1734-473: The country before he can be committed to an asylum. By the end of the film, General Bellows decides to pardon Doctor Dolittle when all the local animals go on strike. Emma is portrayed in the 1967 film by Samantha Eggar , as the niece of General Bellowes, for a romantic interest to The Doctor. The deceased wife of the Doctor in the 2020 film, who is played by Kasia Smutniak . She is described as an adventurous explorer who shared Dolittle's love for animals, and
1785-530: The crocodile, she decided to stay in Africa at the end of the original book, but returned in later stories. In The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle she is described as grey and scarlet. In the 1967 film and the 2020 film (where she is voiced by Emma Thompson and narrates the story), she is portrayed as a macaw; the first film has her explicitly state that she is 199 years old and remembers everything from when she arrived in England and saw King Charles II in hiding, and
1836-538: The daughter of Rassouli, king of pirates. She died during a naval voyage she undertook on her own, when her ship was hit by a typhoon. Her father is in the possession of her journal, which is key to saving the life of the Queen of England. The journal contains the whereabouts of the Eden Tree. Long Arrow is an American Indian, son of Golden Arrow. He is the world's greatest naturalist, specializing in botany and traveling through
1887-402: The doctor's house and garden when the doctor is away travelling. He is illiterate but practical, and is the one who advised Dolittle to become an "animal doctor" and learn animal languages. He was played by Anthony Newley in the 1967 film. Prince Bumpo is an African prince from the kingdom of Jolliguinki, who has been sent to study at Oxford University by his father, and becomes a friend of
1938-475: The duck, and Jip the dog. Polynesia the parrot, who arrives in Puddleby from Africa , informs the Doctor that Bumpo is studying in Bullford . Tommy begins his studies with Dolittle, or rather with Polynesia, who teaches Tommy the language of animals. Chee-Chee comes from Africa disguised as a lady and tells Puddleby about his voyage. The Doctor acquires The Curlew and is thinking of taking Tommy, Polynesia, and Luke
1989-412: The events of The Story of Doctor Dolittle . Five more novels followed, and after Lofting's death in 1947, two more volumes of short, previously unpublished pieces appeared. The stories, in order of publication, are: Gub Gub's Book: An Encyclopaedia of Food (1932) is purportedly written by the pig Gub-Gub. It is a series of food-themed animal vignettes. In the text, the pretence of Gub-Gub's authorship
2040-503: The events of the early chapters seem to be spread over several years. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle begins in 1839. Dolittle returned from his journey to the moon in Doctor Dolittle's return during a full lunar eclipse that was visible low in the sky one late evening in spring. This was the first full lunar eclipse for a couple of years, and it took place in May 1844 in real life. Backstory references indicate that Dr. Dolittle travelled to
2091-617: The internal chronology without creating contradictions. Doctor Dolittle's Circus contains references to events that occurred in Post Office , indicating that Post Office must precede Circus . But the Prologue of Post Office indicates just as definitely that it must happen sometime after Circus . Furthermore, in the narrative sequence that stretches from the end of the first book, through Circus and Caravan , to Green Canary , there's no gap into which Post Office could be inserted. For
List of Doctor Dolittle characters - Misplaced Pages Continue
2142-429: The moth to make a slight detour and drop him off in Puddleby. In The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle Miranda is the purple bird of paradise. She helps Doctor Dolittle get to Spidermonkey Island by telling him the weather conditions. She also relays messages between Long Arrow and Doctor Dolittle, and one who tells Doctor Dolittle that Long Arrow has gone missing. Doctor Dolittle Doctor Dolittle first appeared in
2193-601: The mountains of Peru and Spider Monkey Island. He has learned the language of eagles and thus is able to communicate with Dr. Dolittle. He is featured in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle . William Shakespeare the Tenth is the tribal leader of Sea Star Island, a floating tropical paradise. He and his tribe are well educated in literature and history and each citizen is able to speak several languages ever since different books have washed up on Sea Star Island. Parents name their children after their favorite authors, hence his name. He
2244-446: The other for eating (thus allowing it to eat while speaking without being rude) and claims that its great-grandfather was the last unicorn. In the 1967 film , the pushmi-pullyu was instead portrayed as a double-sided llama . The doctor can immediately speak to the pushmi-pullyu, knowing that llamas speak a dialect of camel language. This is the version that appears in the TV series , where he
2295-515: The price on his head issued by General Bellowes. The [renamed] Great Pink Sea Snail takes Matthew, Tommy, Emma and a host of small animals from the [renamed] Sea Star Island back to England. Sophie the Seal is rescued by Dolittle in Dr Dolittle's Circus . She makes it apparent to the doctor that she does not like life at the circus and wants to return to the sea to find her husband. Dolittle disguises her as
2346-398: The reptile. She later reappears in Doctor Dolittle's Circus , along with her husband, Reverend Launcelot Dingle from Grimbledon. She persuades her brother to use the alias "John Smith" while appearing in the circus (so as to not embarrass Sarah if her new social circle learn she is related to a 'circus showman'). Sarah Dolittle is portrayed by Portia Nelson in 1967 film . Polynesia
2397-527: The sake of a reading order, the most logical options are to place Post Office immediately before Circus , or immediately after Green Canary . The stories, in order of internal chronology, are: There have been a number of adaptations of the Doctor Dolittle stories in other media: Animation : Audio : Stages Film : Video games : A Russian children's novel Doctor Aybolit (Doctor Oh-it-hurts) by Korney Chukovsky (first published in 1924)
2448-462: The stage musical features her sad over how Dolittle will miss her two-hundredth birthday due to his exile. She is absent from the Eddie Murphy movie and is replaced with Lucky the dog (voiced by Norm MacDonald ), but it is possible the owl character (voiced by Jenna Elfman ) is based on her. She also appears in the animated Doctor Dolittle TV series. Gub-Gub is Doctor Dolittle's pet pig. He
2499-502: The statue of St. Edmund 's left ear. He is a recurring character in the books. The Pushmi-Pullyu (pronounced "push-me—pull-you") is a " gazelle / unicorn cross" with two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. In The Story of Doctor Dolittle , the grateful monkeys in Africa persuade it to accompany Dr. Dolittle to England to earn money for him (in Doctor Dolittle's Circus and Doctor Dolittle's Caravan ). The pushmi-pullyu usually only uses one of its heads to talk, reserving
2550-527: The world with his animals and conducting research into new animals and new forms of animal languages. He is portrayed by Rex Harrison in the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle , Eddie Murphy in Dr. Dolittle ( 1998 ) and Dr. Dolittle 2 ( 2001 ), and by Robert Downey Jr. in Dolittle ( 2020 ). The Murphy films bear little resemblance to Lofting's character or plots. In the animated TV series from 1970, Doctor Dolittle
2601-518: Was loosely based on the stories of Doctor Dolittle. The original novel credited Lofting's work, as did Chukovsky in his memoirs. Norwegian playwright, songwriter, and illustrator Thorbjørn Egner made an album called Doktor Dyregod (Doctor good-toward-animals) with songs and story based on Doctor Dolittle. All the books in the series have been translated into Japanese by Masuji Ibuse and into Lithuanian by Pranas Mašiotas . The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle
SECTION 50
#1732883508483#482517