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DR DOLITTLE 2
Twentieth Century Fox presents a Davis Entertainment Company production
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Prod: John Davis; Exec prod: Neil Machlis, Joe Singer; Co-prod: Michele Imperato-Stabile, Heidi Santelli; Dir: Steve Carr; Scr: Larry Levin, based on the Doctor Dolittle stories by Hugh Lofting; Ph: Daryn Okada; Prod des: William Sandell; Cost des: Ruth Carter; Ed: Craig P Herring; Mus: David Newman.
With Eddie Murphy (Dr Dolittle), Kristen Wilson (Lisa Dolittle), Raven-Symoné (Charisse Dolittle), Kyla Pratt (Maya Dolittle), Lil’ Zane (Eric), Denise Dowse (Secretary), Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter), James L Avery (Eldon), Elayn J Taylor (Eldon’s Wife), Andy Richter (Eugene Wilson), Kevin Pollak (Jack Riley), Victor Raider-Wexler (Judge), Jeffrey Jones (Joseph Potter), Tank (Archie). Voices: Steve Zahn (Archie), Jacob Vargas (Pepito), Lisa Kudrow (Ava), Mike Epps (Sonny), Renee Taylor (Female Tortoise), Phil Proctor (Drunk Monkey), Michael Rapaport (Joey the Raccoon), Isaac Hayes (Possum).
International distribution: 20th Century Fox.
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Along with The Nutty Professor, the film went a long way towards redefining Murphy’s audience as family-oriented. Even so, it comes as something of a surprise to find him firmly ensconced in the ‘Dad’ role in Dr D2, especially in the scenes involving his oldest screen daughter, Charisse (Raven-Symoné), and her boyfriend, Eric, played by rapper Lil’ Zane.
“During an early scene, Eric picks up Charisse for a date, and when he meets her father, he calls him ‘Pops’,” recalls director Carr. “When I first read that I thought, ‘Pops!?’ Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop and Saturday Night Live and Trading Places as a ‘Pops’? But I came to appreciate the conflict of the generations between Dolittle and Eric, and Dolittle and his now teenage daughter.”
The Doctor is in: “No matter where I am - all over the world - kids and teens come up to me and say, ‘Hey, Dr D!’” says Murphy.
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Carr made his feature debut with the hit comedy Friday and its sequel, Next Friday. He has directed music videos for Moby, Public Enemy, Def Squad and Jay-Z, and he wanted to make sure that Dr Dolittle 2 had something of the same edge, particularly in the choice of the actors who would voice the various animals. These range from Friends star Lisa Kudrow as the ‘country’ bear, Ava, to comedian Cedric the Entertainer - one of the stars of Spike Lee’s documentary, The Original Kings of Comedy - as a jive-talking zoo bear. “We wanted the voices to have a fresh, hip, edgy style: to have Eddie riffing with a dozen or so of some very funny and very talented people,” says Carr.
But in the end, what Dr Dolittle 2 is about - just as what Dr Dolittle 1 was about - is animals, lots and lots of talking animals. Having a lot of animals on set caused Carr the kind of problems he never had on music videos, although animatronics were used on the film, particularly on some of the bear scenes. But, says the director, “I would say at least 90 per cent are real animals. Animal movements are part of nature; you can’t reproduce them, no matter how hard you try.
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director Steve Carr on the Dolittle set with Murphy.
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“So a huge percentage of our work was waiting for the animals to do what they’re trained to do. And the patience that was needed… well, it felt at times as if it were Herculean!”
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