Nothing Like the Movie

A lot of times I will see a movie after reading the book that movie is based on.  The most current example of this is Harry Potter.  Normally I walk away thinking well that was a pretty good movie, not nearly as good as the book, but not bad.  This time it was the reverse.  I had seen the Doctor Dolittle movie (the 1998 production) and, honestly, didn't really like it.  So I wasn't very excited to read Hugh Lofting's The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle.

Here's the great news: the book is nothing like the movie (actually, after a little imdb research I discovered the first Doctor Dolittle movie was made in 1967 and the plot line of that movie is a much closer match with the book).  In the book Doctor Dolittle is a hard working and well-respected naturalist who spent his life studying animal languages and, through much hard work, learned to speak them.

My favorite part of the book is when Doctor Dolittle is chosen to be King for a tribe he meets on his journeys.  The tribe did not think Dolittle was an appropriate name for a king so they renamed him the Royal Thinkalot.  What a great name.  This book is actually told from Dolittle's young assistant Tommy Stubbin's point of view.  Lafting perfectly captured Tommy's excitement at going somewhere new and being included in the Doctor's voyages, "Just to think of it! To cross the sea, to walk on foreign shores, to roam the world!"

So regardless of how you feel about the movie, you should read this book because it is full of crazy situations and wonderful adventures.

Roaming the world...that's kids stuff.