Robert Downy Jr. went to Twitter to announce the cast of his upcoming Doctor Doolittle adaptation, The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle. Though Downy is the only live0-action actor announced, the voice cast consists of Emma Thompson as the parrot Polynesia, Craig Robinson as the mouse Fleming, Rami Malek as Chee-Chee the gorilla, Carmen Ejogo as the lioness Regine, Octavia Spencer as the duck Dab-Dab, Tom Holland as Jip the dog, Ralph Fiennes as the tiger Barry, Marion Cotillard as Tutu the fox, Kumail Nanjiani as Plimpton the ostrich, Frances de la Tour as Ginko-Who-Soars, John Cena as Yoshi the polar bear, and Selena Gomez as Betsy, a giraffe.
The film is based on the series of children’s books by Hugh Lofting, starting with the 1920 The Story of Doctor Dolittle. The character has seen many adaptations throughout the years, first appearing in an animated German short called Doktor Dolittle und seine Tiere (Doctor Dolittle and his Animals) in 1928. NBC ran a short-lived radio series in the early 30s, which was followed by the Academy Award winning Rex Harrison film in 1967.
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises produced an animated version from 1970-1972, with various stage adaptations and BBC radio dramas starting in the 90s through the early 2ooos. Eddie Murphy starred in two Doctor Dolittle films in 1998 and 2001, with three more sequels following sans Murphy. The last adaptation was a direct-to-video animated movie, starring Jane Seymour, Jason Alexander, and Tim Curry called The Voyages of Young Doctor Dolittle.
The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle is scheduled to be released April 12, 2019.
I am most pleased to announce the stellar voice cast joining me on #TheVoyageofDoctorDolittle. #EmmaThompson @ItsRamiMalek @octaviaspencer #RalphFiennes @kumailn @selenagomez @MrCraigRobinson @carmenejogo @TomHolland1996 #MarionCotillard @RealFDLT @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/GmfjOCqv7w
— Robert Downey Jr (@RobertDowneyJr) March 27, 2018