Editing Doctor Dolittle (1967 film) (section)

==Plot==
In 1845, in the small port town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, England, Matthew Mugg brings his young friend Tommy Stubbins with him when he takes an injured duck to his friend, the eccentric Doctor John Dolittle, who he claims is the best veterinarian in the world because he can talk to animals. A former medical doctor, Dolittle lives with a large [[menagerie]] of various creatures, including a talking [[blue-and-yellow macaw]] named Polynesia, a [[Common chimpanzee|chimpanzee]] named Chee-Chee, a dog named Jip, and a piglet named Gub-Gub. He explains that the many animals he kept in his home created havoc with his human patients who began to go elsewhere for their medical needs, so his sister Sarah who served as his housekeeper demanded that he dispose of the animals or she would leave. He chose the animals. Polynesia then revealed that she could speak over 2,000 animal languages and offered to teach Dolittle so he could become an animal doctor. Dolittle says he can now speak nearly 500 animal languages and he is currently in the process of learning how to speak with sea creatures for an upcoming expedition to search for the legendary Great Pink [[Sea snail|Sea Snail]].

The next morning, Dolittle is treating a horse for [[near-sightedness]] when the horse's owner, the local [[magistrate]] General Bellowes, bursts in and accuses him of stealing the animal. Bellowes ends up getting chased away by skunks and his niece Emma Fairfax chides Dolittle for his rudeness and lack of compassion for humans. Dolittle expresses his contempt for her uncle, who hunts foxes, and for her, who, he says, does absolutely nothing, and she storms off.

To help Dolittle earn money for his expedition, a friend sends him a rare [[pushmi-pullyu]], which is a creature that looks like a [[llama]] with a head on each end of its body and that likes to dance. Dolittle takes the pushmi-pullyu to a nearby [[circus]] run by Albert Blossom, and it becomes the star attraction. The doctor talks with a sad [[Pinniped|seal]] named Sophie and learns she longs to return to her husband at the [[North Pole]], so he smuggles her out of the circus, disguises her in women's clothing to convey her to the coast, and throws her in the ocean. Some [[Fisherman|fishermen]] witness this and have Dolittle arrested for murder.

When he appears in court before Bellowes, Dolittle is able to prove he can converse with animals by talking with Bellowes's dog and revealing details only Bellowes and the dog could know. Certain he will be set free, he tells Matthew to get ready to begin their expedition the next day. While he is acquitted on the murder charge, the vindictive Bellowes orders him committed to an [[insane asylum]].

Polynesia engineers Dolittle's escape during his transfer to the asylum by obtaining the cooperation of the police horses and dogs. Dolittle, Matthew, Tommy, Polynesia, Chee-Chee, and Jip set sail in search of the Great Pink Sea Snail. Dolittle is surprised to discover Emma, who has become fascinated by him and is seeking adventure, is also on board his ship the ''Flounder''. As he will be arrested if he turns back, he agrees to let her be his [[Cook (domestic worker)|cook]] and [[cabin boy]]. It is decided by randomly pointing at a map that the crew will search for the Snail on Sea Star Island which is a [[floating island]] that is probably currently somewhere off the western coast of Africa. Assisted by various sea creatures, they near the Sea Star Island where they encounter a violent storm and the ''Flounder'' is destroyed.

Everyone washes ashore on Sea Star Island and Dolittle and Emma admit they have grown to like each other. The party is soon captured by the island's [[Indigenous peoples|natives]] who they learn are highly-educated and cultured from reading books that have washed ashore after innumerable shipwrecks and often name their children after their favorite authors. Their [[Tribal chief|chieftain]] is [[William Shakespeare|William "Willie" Shakespeare]] the Tenth who explains that his tribe blames newcomers for its misfortunes, and the tropical island is currently drifting north into colder waters, which has given all of the animals colds.

Dolittle tends to the animals and then persuades a [[whale]] to push the island south. The jolt causes a large [[balancing rock]] to drop into a volcano, condemning Dolittle and his friends to die of 1,000 screams. Just as they are about to be killed, the island collides with Africa and the two pieces fit perfectly, confirming a legend that Sea Star Island had broken off from Africa 5,000 years earlier. For bringing them home, the natives cancel the execution and revere Dolittle as a god.

A loud sneeze alerts Dolittle to the presence of the Great Pink Sea Snail which lives in a cave on the island. In exchange for curing its cold, the Great Pink Sea Snail agrees to carry Dolittle's friends back to Britain in its watertight shell as it wants to visit its cousin the [[Loch Ness Monster]] anyway. Emma wishes to stay on the island with Dolittle and search for the Giant Lunar Moth, a creature that flies back and forth between Earth and the Moon, but he says he is not good with people so she says she will miss him and kisses him goodbye.

Sometime later, Sophie and her husband bring Dolittle the news that Bellowes has agreed to pardon him after all of the animals in England went on [[Strike action|strike]] to protest his sentence. Having realized that he has feelings for Emma, Dolittle has the natives position themselves in the shape of the Giant Lunar Moth. Later that night, Dolittle rides the Giant Lunar Moth back to Puddleby.