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Doctor Dolittle (1967 film)
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===Development=== As early as 1922, [[Fox Film|Fox Film Corporation]] made [[Hugh Lofting]] an offer for the film rights to Doctor Dolittle. Decades later, [[Walt Disney]] sought to obtain the rights to make a film adaptation of the novels. The Disney studio offered Lofting a [[flat rate|flat fee]] of $7,500 for the ancillary rights to the property, and the contract negotiations reached an impasse.{{sfn|Harris|2008|p=30}} In 1960, Lofting's widow Josephine gave a short-term option of the film rights to Helen Winston, a Canadian actress who had produced the film ''[[Hand in Hand (1961 film)|Hand in Hand]]'' (1960). 20th Century Fox signed a multi-picture production deal with Winston's company, Luster Enterprises, in April 1962, with plans to commence production in the following months. Winston had actor [[George Gobel]] in mind to portray Doctor Dolittle in the project.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Connelly |first=Mike |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88386625/ |title=In Hollywood |date=June 30, 1961 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |access-date=January 21, 2020 |page=11 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729235937/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88386625/ |url-status=live}}</ref> She had completed a script with writer Larry Watkin by June 1962,{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=30β1}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hopper |first=Hedda |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/374675461/ |title=Woman Producer Gets Doolittle Story |date=August 7, 1962 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=January 21, 2020 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-access=subscription |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729225741/https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/374675461/ |url-status=live}}</ref> but Fox decided to cancel their option two months later. [[Arthur P. Jacobs]] first heard that the film rights were available on December 5, 1963, which was before the release of ''[[What a Way to Go!]]'' (1964), his debut film as a producer. Jacobs met with the Loftings' attorney, Bernard Silbert, and expressed his intentions to produce ''Doctor Dolittle'' as a musical with lyricist [[Alan Jay Lerner]] and actor [[Rex Harrison]] attached. He acquired the rights on Christmas Day, with the condition that he find a distributor within six months.{{sfn|Harris|2008|p=32}} In January 1964, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Lerner had signed on to write the script and compose the songs.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/06/archives/lerner-to-write-a-movie-musical-will-do-script-and-lyrics-for-dr-do.html |title=Lerner To Write a Movie Musical; Will Do Script and Lyrics for 'Dr. Dolittle' Stories |date=January 6, 1964 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 21, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819032026/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/06/archives/lerner-to-write-a-movie-musical-will-do-script-and-lyrics-for-dr-do.html |url-status=live}}</ref> That March, Jacobs pitched his project to studio executive [[Darryl Zanuck]], and 20th Century Fox signed on as the distributor.{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=45β6}} On March 22, Rex Harrison signed to star as Doctor Dolittle.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/22/archives/harrison-and-lerner-reunited-star-lyricist-todo-new-musicalwallis.html |title=Harrison and Lerner Reunite; Star, Lyricist to Do New Musical |date=March 22, 1964 |work=The New York Times |access-date=January 21, 2020}}</ref> Because Lerner's collaborator [[Frederick Loewe]] had retired, Jacobs hired [[AndrΓ© Previn]] to compose the musical score.{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=45β46}} The film was given a budget of $6 million.{{sfn|Medved|Medved|1984|p=118}} After not producing a complete draft of the screenplay in over a year, Lerner, who was more focused at the time on his work on the Broadway musical ''[[On a Clear Day You Can See Forever]]'', was fired from the ''Doctor Dolittle'' project on May 7, 1965.{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=77β80}} Jacobs considered replacing Lerner with the [[Sherman Brothers]], who had just won the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] for their work on ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'' (1964), but they were still under contract to Disney, so he hired [[Leslie Bricusse]], who was in high demand after his success with the stage musical ''[[Stop the World β I Want to Get Off]]''. Determined to make a good impression for his first screenplay commission, Bricusse proved agreeably productive from the start for Jacobs, suggesting numerous story ideas and adding a female leading character to the film during their first meeting on May 6. Zanuck decided to give Bricusse a trial run, at first only hiring him to complete two songs and the first twenty pages of a script. Two weeks after he was brought on to the project, Bricusse presented the song "[[Talk to the Animals]]", which he composed especially for Harrison.{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=90β91}} By July, Bricusse had written a full script, including various song suggestions, that effectively blunted the book's racist content, and his adaptation received the approval of Josephine Lofting.{{sfn|Harris|2008|pp=124β125}} For the director, [[Vincente Minnelli]] was initially attached to the project, but left before Bricusse was hired.{{sfn|Harris|2008|p=123}} [[William Wyler]], [[George Roy Hill]], and [[John Huston]] were considered, but [[Richard Zanuck]] settled on [[Richard Fleischer]].{{sfn|Kennedy|2014|p=39}}
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