Played with: The rats on the ship are opportunistic survivors, but they're not portrayed as being in the wrong for it in fact Doctor Dolittle has a chat with one of them and agrees that their behavior is entirely sensible.The sharks in the sea are polite and friendly to the Doctor, and refrain from eating the pirates when he asks them not to, but the pirates are still terrified of the sharks because everyone knows sharks eat people. Subverted: The crocodile is a totally harmless Gentle Giant, but the people of Puddleby are incapable of seeing it as such because everyone knows crocodiles are vicious killers.Averted: Dab-Dab is a practical and sensible duck with no trace of the stereotypical clumsiness and dimness you tend to see in fictional ducks, and Chee-Chee has none of the traditional mischievousness of a monkey.Polynesia, being a parrot, is clever and can converse as well as any human. Straight: Gub-Gub is a gluttonous pig, Jip is a heroic and loyal dog, and Too-Too is a very intelligent owl.Animal Stereotypes: Played straight in some instances, averted or subverted in others, played with on a few occasions.Animal Lover: The eponymous doctor is kind to animals.Even very simple organisms without nervous systems like starfish and sea urchins can be multilingual and have meaningful conversations.
Being flat-out broke, he borrows money and a ship and sails across the ocean, adventure waiting just around the corner One day he receives a message from a swallow begging him to travel to Africa to cure a disease epidemic among the monkeys. And despite his dire financial straits, he remains happy and carefree. His parrot, Polynesia, teaches Dolittle how to speak certain animal languages, which fascinates him. John Dolittle even drives his own spinster sister away when he adopts a crocodile, and he's left penniless with no one to take care of his house or manage his money. The only exception is the Cat's-meat-man (a man who sells meat for pets to eat, not a man who sells the meat of cats) who's never had any problem with animals. He is a highly competent and well-respected physician, but he is also somewhat of an animal hoarder, which drives away almost all of the paying human customers. John Dolittle is a doctor living in the small village, Puddleby note short for Puddleby-on-the-Marsh.
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