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bagpuss_janet 's review for:
The Story of Doctor Dolittle
by Hugh Lofting
It's fair to say that Doctor Dolittle prefers animals to humans, so when he alienates his patients and falls into reduced circumstances, Polynesia the parrot teaches him how to talk to animals. When the Cat's Meat Man (I've discovered that was a real occupation until about the 1930s!) suggests he becomes a vet, so begins a journey to Africa and back, accompanied by various animal friends with epic adventures along the way.
Lofting got the idea for the character after being appalled by the treatment of animals during WW1 and making up stories about them when writing home to his children. I haven't seen the Rex Harrison musical for many years, so I only remember a giant snail and the Pushmi-pullyu. I see there's a new version so thought I'd read the first book before I watch it. It was fun and I enjoyed it. I have since found out that the book as it was originally published is very, very racist. This was a sanitised version, which is just as well.
Lofting got the idea for the character after being appalled by the treatment of animals during WW1 and making up stories about them when writing home to his children. I haven't seen the Rex Harrison musical for many years, so I only remember a giant snail and the Pushmi-pullyu. I see there's a new version so thought I'd read the first book before I watch it. It was fun and I enjoyed it. I have since found out that the book as it was originally published is very, very racist. This was a sanitised version, which is just as well.