Dr. Dolittle
- Adaptation Displacement: Besides being oblivious to the original books by Hugh Lofting, many 90s kids have no knowledge of the film adaptation from 1967.
- Awesome Music: The late Aaliyah’s enormously popular single “Are You That Somebody?” from the soundtrack played a crucial role in the film’s success, and is fondly considered to be one of her signature songs. The film also features Louis Armstrong's rendition of "Talk to the Animals".
- Broken Base: Over whether this or the 1967 adaptation is the better one, with the 1967 version's fans pointing to its now-iconic soundtrack and it being a much more faithful adaptation, and the fans of this version pointing to Eddie Murphy being a more likeable Dolittle than Rex Harrison, and the far more convincing execution of the talking animals. That being said, both versions are generally regarded as far superior to the 2020 adaptation.
- First Installment Wins: It's not the first big-screen adaptation of the original story, but between the five entries in the continuity created by this film, it's usually considered the best. The second one is still seen as being pretty decent, but the direct-to-video sequels (none of which star Eddie Murphy) are widely loathed.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Considering how Eddie Murphy would later end up playing a certain animated animal chatterbox that gets on people's nerves, seeing him at the receiving end of talking animal shenanigans is definitely this.
- This wouldn't be the last time Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres would star together as talking animals.
- Tear Jerker:
- When young John loses his pet dog after his father hires a minister to perform an exorcism on John. She only attacked the minister because she thought he was threatening John. John's father sends her to the pound the next day over the misunderstanding, but mostly so John could stop talking to his dog.
- Maya explaining to Archer that she liked the idea that John could talk to animals. Because she thinks people see her as a freak too, and thought it would be nice if she and her dad had something in common. Also this exchange:
Maya: Sometimes I don't think he likes me very much.
Archer: Honey. He loves you!
Maya: I know he loves me. But I don't think he likes me.- For the most part the scene where Dolittle first meets Jake the tiger is Played for Laughs despite the circumstances, but here and there the genuine pain the cat is going through comes through clearly in his strained voice—and despite the fact tigers are one of the endangered species people are fighting the hardest to save (although this was not always the case), it's heartbreaking to hear him claim no one would care if he died. (Considering he's from a circus, there's another subtext to this as well.) And during the rather tense surgery scene, when Jake is on the verge of completely losing his sight if Dolittle can't relieve the pressure in his brain, it's hard for any animal lover not to get upset. Helped, of course, by the tiger being voiced by Albert Brooks, years before he tugged at heartstrings as Marlin.
Dr. Dolittle 2
- Harsher in Hindsight: Hearing Steve Irwin getting his arm bitten off by a crocodile (off-screen) might be uncomfortable to watch now that he was killed in an animal attack note .
- Hilarious in Hindsight: Archie's and Ava daughter in the final scene is voiced by Mandy Moore. This won't be the only time when she will voice a she-bear in a family movie.
- Tear Jerker: When John sees the cleared portion of the forest the animals want to save. Made worse when a squirrel who obviously used to live there comes up. It's actually rather subdued.Squirrel: It's gone. Everything's... gone.
- Viewer Species Confusion: The character of Lennie the Weasel is actually played by a ferret.
