Sunday 25 January 2015

73 The Adventures of Dr Dolittle


First  watched :  1971

This  is  one  I'd  forgotten  and  a  mite  uncomfortable  to  write  about  since  it  means  giving  some  credit  to  one  of  my  least  favourite  teachers , Mrs  Chapman , who  read   out   one  of  Hugh  Lofting's  books  about  the  good  Doctor  in  class  and  I  was  entranced. I  had  the  "benefit"  of  the  good  lady  twice , in  Infant  1  and  Infant  3  (  for  a  reason  it's  unfair  to  people  who  are  still  alive  to  disclose )   and  I  can't  recall  in  which  of  them  she  read  the  story  but  it  was  definitely  before  this  was  first  broadcast  on  Thursday  25th  September  1971.

I  was  greatly  excited  of  course  but  it  was  a  generally  disappointing  series,  made  by  the  DePatie  Freleng  team  behind  The  Pink  Panther  Show  rather  than  Hanna-Barbera. It  placed  Dr  Dolittle  on  a  ship  with  his  apprentice  Tommy  Stubbins, the  two-headed  llama  Pushmi-Pullyu   and  various  other  animals  including  a  rock  group  comprised  of  grasshoppers  who  once  per  episode  would  break up  the  flow  by  performing  a  psychedelic  rock  song. Dolittle's  ship  toured  the  world  on  humanitarian  missions  but  was  pursued  by  a  crew  of  pirates  led  by  Sam  Scurvy  who  had  vaguely-conceived  plans  to  rule  the  world  once  Dolittle  told  him  the  secret  of  conversing  with  the  animals. By  summoning  animal  aid  Dolittle  always  managed  to  evade  his  clutches.

The  series  didn't  really  please  anyone  - Lofting  himself  was  well  past  caring  - and  hasn't  been  repeated  much.  A  second  animated  show  The  Voyages  of  Dr  Dolittle  was  made  in  the  eighties  by  20th  Century  Fox  but  I've  never  seen  that.

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