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Dr. Dolittle (1998)

(2003, Rated PG-13, Comedy, Starring Peter Boyle, Eddie Murphy)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 6, age appropriate for kids over 8; suggested age 8.
  • Is it any good?

    4.0
  • Common Sense says

    This gimmicky animal tale is crude but funny.

updated 07.04.08

Why We Rated This on for Ages 8 and Up

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    In some scenes, Dolittle is unkind to animals: he shouts at a dog, and briefly ignores the animals' pleas for medical attention.
  • Violence & scariness :

    The rat characters keep goading each other into a fistfight. A rat nearly dies on the operating table. A woman with an allergic reaction to shellfish, visits Dolittle's office with horrifically puffed-up eyes (her bruised posterior is also featured).
  • Sexy stuff :

    Much of the film contains mildly raunchy material, including double entendres and sexual innuendo.
  • Language:

    At one point Dolittle quickly utters the "s" word. Jokes involve excretion, flatulence, and urination; countless gags center around animals' "butts." The milder terms "crap" and "nooky" are also utilized.
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Dr. Dolittle (1998)

Parents need to know that this Eddie Murphy vehicle lifts the name and basic concept from Hugh Lofting's famous stories about a man who can "talk to the animals." An enormous amount of sophmoric humor involving the good doctor's animal patients is added to the mix -- cute but wearying for adults. Because many of the jokes include toilet humor and crude references to the human body, parents may want to decide whether or not they feel comfortable with this type of content for children younger than 5, though those children will certainly be charmed by the animal characters. Children above 5 will enjoy the jokes, but parents may still wish to exercise discretion, due to the nature of the humor.

Read our full review by Ed Grant

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the adult themes depicted in this movie, such as insanity, death and greed. Families can also talk about what they think it would be like to be able to talk to animals. Do you think that would be fun?
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  • What did you think about Dr. Dolittle (1998)?
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See all 2 member reviews

Most Recent Reviews

  1. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title off for age 17 and give it 1.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Inappropriate sexual content
    • Drinking, smoking, or drug use

    The Sh!t fetishes in movies need to stop!

    ok...first things first i dont want my child to start taking to animals. this will make my child crazy and he will sit on his ass and have no friends. People are abusing animals in this movie, scared the living sh!t out of my child when he saw the rat sliced open even though he may hae seen "worse" movies in his life i think this was to mch for him. this was an abonimaation and is banned from our house. another thing is that this is the worst educational movie as it shows a rebellious atttude toward humans. The most disgusting scene in the movie has to be when the guinnea pig wiggles his ass and makes it out to be an innocent joke. He mine as well have told my son "HEY LOOK ALEX!!! IM READY AN WILLING!!" And I had it up to here with all the SH!T FETISHES in CILDREN MOVIES!

  2. Teen Reviewer
    Age 14
    Lives in Iowa
    I rate this title on for age 3 and give it 5.0

    Wonderful movie

    This movie is one of my favorite animal movies.I don't see why the stuff mentioned in this review is called adult themes. It's not adult themes, it's human themes.

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