doctor dolittle is a 1967 american musical film directed by richard fleischer and starring rex harrison , samantha eggar , anthony newley and richard attenborough .

it was adapted by leslie bricusse from the novel series by hugh lofting .

it primarily fuses three of the books the story of doctor dolittle , the voyages of doctor dolittle , and doctor dolittle 's circus .

the film had a notoriously protracted production with numerous setbacks along the way such as complications from poorly chosen shooting locations and the numerous technical difficulties inherent with the large number of animals required for the story .

the film exceeded its original budget of $ 6 million by three times , and recouped $ 9 million upon release in 1967 , earning only $ 6.2 million in theatrical rentals .

the film received mixed to negative critical reviews , but through the studio 's intense lobbying , was nominated for the academy award for best picture and won awards for best original song and best visual effects .

doctor dolittle ( film )

doctor dolittle ( film ) <EOT> doctor dolittle release date : robert downey jr . film gets summer date – variety

richard fleischer’s 1967 musical doctor dolittle was based on the novels : the story of doctor dolittle , the voyages of doctor dolittle and doctor dolittle’s circus . the film was nominated for an oscar for best picture and won for best original song and visual effects .

doctor dolittle first hit the bit screen in the 1967 movie doctor dolittle , directed by richard fleischer and written by leslie bricusse based on the lofting novels the story of doctor dolittle , the voyages of doctor dolittle and doctor dolittle ' s circus . the story follows the eccentric doctor john dolittle , a former physician who lives with and treats animals , claiming that he can communicate with them .

iron man star robert downey jr . is set to play doctor dolittle in a new film .

robert downey jr . has signed on to star as doctor dolittle in an adaptation of the voyage of doctor dolittle for universal . learn more details about the robert downey jr doctor dolittle movie , after the jump .

robert downey jr is set to play doctor dolittle in a new film based on the hugh lofting character .

doctor dolittle is a 1967 musical film based on the series of children ' s books by hugh lofting , which tells the story of a doctor , doctor dolittle , who learns from his pet parrot polynesia to talk to animals .

doctor dolittle was previously portrayed by rex harrison in the oscar - winning 1967 musical doctor dolittle , and by eddie murphy in the 1998 comedy version and its 2001 sequel , dr . dolittle 2 .

as a family film doctor dolittle effectively brings in aspects of this genre . some of the elements at play are :

robert downey jr is the new doctor dolittle . photograph : ian gavan / getty images

the film titled the voyage of doctor dolittle is based on the classic character who can talk to animals , reported variety .

still , murphy is the most popular doctor dolittle , and fans are pissed he ' s been replaced . do you think rdj will make a better or worse doctor dolittle ?

the character was portrayed by rex harrison in the 1967 musical “doctor dolittle , ” which won oscars for best original song and best visual effects . eddie murphy starred in the 1998 film “doctor dolittle” and the 2001 sequel .

doctor dolittle ( 1967 ) - - ( movie clip ) talk to the . . .

murphy wasn ' t even the first to take on the role of doctor dolittle . rex harrison played doctor dolittle in the original film , which was a 1967 musical nominated for best picture at the academy awards in 1968 .

actor robert downey jr . is set to play the lead role in the new doctor dolittle movie .

in the 1967 musical version of the ' dr dolittle ' story , doctor john dolittle is able to converse freely with a wide range of creatures .

the voyages of doctor dolittle , which is urltoken available on amazon for around $ 5 , won the newbery medal for 1923 . this isn’t the first time hollywood has brought doctor dolittle to the big screen :

some people seem to think the ' 98 eddie murphy dr . dolittle film was the original , but there was a 1967 film . urltoken

the “iron man” star is far from the first to step into doctor dolittle ’s shoes ; rex harrison starred in the 1967 musical “doctor dolittle , ” which won oscars for best original song and best visual effects . eddie murphy was the next actor to take on the character , starring in 1998’s “doctor dolittle” and the 2001 sequel .

lofting’s character was portrayed by rex harrison in the 1967 musical “doctor dolittle , ” which won oscars for best original song and best visual effects . eddie murphy starred in the 1998 film “doctor dolittle” and the 2001 sequel , which cumulatively grossed more than $ 470 million at the worldwide box office .

a second doctor dolittle film was released in 1998 starring eddie murphy in the titular role , spawning a sequel and three direct - to - dvd sequels starring kyla pratt as dolittle’s daughter maya , who shares her father and older sister’s gift .

book by leslie bricusse lyrics by leslie bricusse music by leslie bricusse based on the " doctor dolittle " stories by hugh lofting . doctor dolittle has talked with the animals , and now , you can , too ! music theatre international is proud . . .

the first “dr . dolittle” film came out in 1967 , with rex harrison playing the titular doctor . the movie drew from three of lofting’s tales : “the story of doctor dolittle , ” “the voyages of doctor dolittle , ” and “doctor dolittle’s circus . ” though it wasn’t well - received critically , the film won academy awards for best original song and best visual effects , with a nomination for best picture . while there was no direct sequel to the movie , fox remade the film in 1998 with eddie murphy playing the title role . unlike harrison’s “dr . dolittle , ” murphy’s iteration was not based on the books , instead only sharing the concept of a doctor who can speak with animals . murphy’s movies were successful , having grossed more than $ 470 million dollars worldwide during their time in theaters .

with the headline : screen : that grand zoomanitarian , ' doctor dolittle , ' arrives for the holidays on a great pink snail .

the doctor dolittle stories have also been adapted into radio series , cartoon shorts , stage adaptations and a direct to video animated movie .

doctor dolittle might be a little woolly at times but it ' s impossible not to be impressed by rex harrison and his marvellous menagerie .

as suggested by the above plot summary and the style of promotional material , this movie was only loosely related to the doctor dolittle books .

universal pictures ’ has moved its untitled doctor dolittle movie with robert downey jr . up six weeks from may 24 , 2019 , to april 12 . previously known as the voyage of doctor dolittle , the project had been set to open against disney’s star wars : episode ix .

we are introduced to the world of doctor dolittle and the animals who inhabit it ( doctor dolittle ) . madeline and tommy reveal that the doctor is loved by everyone in the village of puddleby - on - the - marsh ( my friend the doctor ) . after a particularly unsuccessful appointment with general bellowes , doctor dolittle decides to become an animal doctor and vows to have polynesia , the parrot , teach him all of the animal languages she knows ( talk to the animals - part 1 ) . he quickly learns to say " good morning " to his dog jip in dog and celebrates his achievement ( talk to the animals - part 2 ) .

' doctor doolittle ' ( 1967 ) ; robert downey jr . ( inset )

' the doctor dolittle movies are based off of the books of the same name . not much information is available about the first of these , dr . dolittle and his animals , released in germany in 1928 . the second is the 1967 film starring rex harrison in the title role . the third is the 1998 film starring eddie murphy .

doctor dolittle ' s dream finally comes true with the arrival of the great pink sea snail to the island . they converse in escargot and the snail agrees to take the doctor ' s friends back home . doctor dolittle explains that he will not be returning to puddleby and the friends share a tearful goodbye before departing in the snail . back home , emma tries to talk some sense into her uncle with the help of the animals ( the voice of protest ) . it works and bellowes declares doctor dolittle innocent of any wrongdoing . the cheers of the crowd are interrupted by the triumphant return of doctor dolittle to puddleby - on - the - marsh ( finale ) .

doctor dolittle provides directors the wonderful flexibility of casting performers of all ages and types , including a large ensemble that calls for actors to portray talking animals .

robert downey jr . is taking on the role of doctor dolittle in a movie adaptation of " the voyage of doctor dolittle . " rdj fans are stoked , but it was eddie murphy who popularized the role in 1998 . so , detractors aren ' t just hating on the reboot , they don ' t want rdj touching murphy ' s iconic role . both men are funny , but have very different comedic strengths . will rdj even do doctor dolittle justice ?

among dolittle’s human detractors is general bellowes , an aristocrat who declares the doctor a horse - thief after bellowes’ horse seeks dolittle’s aid for its “nearsightedness . ” bellowes’ distaste for the doctor is initially shared by his niece , emma , who comes to dolittle’s home to give him what - for . matthew is smitten with emma , whom he nicknames “fred” for her feisty , “masculine” spirit .

universal ’s new untitled doctor dolittle movie , starring robert downey jr . , will be opening on may 24 , 2019 , the studio announced on monday night .

they should have cut everything : all the songs and all the script and started over with a film version of any other book . why didn ' t they just make [ italic ] doctor dolittle [ / italic ] instead ?

eddie murphy popularized the role of doctor dolittle in 1998 . robert downey jr . is now set to give it a try . ( photo via 20th century fox )

in defence of story telling : matthew sings two songs celebrating the doctor ' s imagination .

the film opens in puddleby - on - the - marsh , a fictional village in mid - 1800s england , with matthew muggs ( newley ) , an irishman who peddles scrap meat as pet food , describing “my friend , the doctor . ” matthew is essentially the nick carraway to doctor dolittle’s gatsby : fairly unremarkable , but useful as a “control” to the doctor’s eccentricity . “my friend the doctor says the world is full of fantasy , ” says matthew , “and who are you and i to disagree ? ”

robert downey jr . will star in the movie “ the voyage of doctor dolittle , ” based on the classic character who can talk to animals , for universal pictures .

: " my friend the doctor " ( matthew ) ; " the vegetarian , " " talk to the animals " ( dolittle ) ; " at the crossroads " ( emma ) ; " i ' ve never seen anything like it " ( albert , dolittle , mrs . blossom , & ensemble ) , " when i look into your eyes , " " like animals " ( dolittle ) ; " after today " ( matthew ) ; " fabulous places " ( emma ) ; " i think i like you " ( dolittle , emma ) ; " doctor dolittle " ( matthew & ensemble ) ; " something in your smile " ( dolittle ) .

there is currently no release date for “the voyage of dr . dolittle . ”

a 1967 film musical directed by richard fleischer , based on the doctor dolittle books by hugh lofting . it stars rex harrison in the title role and anthony newley as his sidekick matthew mugg . script , songs and score were written by leslie bricusse .

absent - minded professor : the doctor to a certain extent , mainly in terms of money .

the movie is based on the character from the 1920’s series of children’s books by hugh lofting . the voyages of doctor dolittle was the second of lofting’s doctor dolittle books , published in 1922 . it is nearly five times as long as the original book , divided into six parts that included illustrations . here is an official plot description from the book cover :

not good with people : doctor dolittle can speak with animals and relates well to them , but aside from a few close friends humans are really hard for him to deal with .

what is the source of dr . dolittle ' s ability to talk to animals ?

dr . dolittle was leaden and sluggish , especially for a children ' s musical .

follows a peculiar doctor who can speak with animals , shunning human patients in favor of the critters .

many years later , the film received a screen - to - stage adaptation .

the news comes shortly after universal pictures won a heated auction for the film , which is based on hugh lofting’s “doctor dolittle” series . while tom shepherd wrote an early draft of the movie , academy award - winner stephen gaghan will be both directing the film and re - writing shepherd’s script . susan downey , of team downey , will be producing the film in conjunction with joe roth and jeff kirschenbaum of roth / kirschenbaum films .

speaks fluent animal : doctor dolittle learns how to speak with the animals from his talking parrot . a translation convention is not used ; conversations are shown taking place in gestures and animal noises , with dolittle translating the important parts into english for the benefit of his human companions .

updated – march 27 , 2017 : universal pictures ’ untitled doctor dolittle project , starring robert downey jr . as the title character , will be released on friday , may 24 , 2019 .

rex harrison as dr . dolittle is supposed to be a charmer as an animal doctor who can " talk to the animals " but as the story goes it comes off a . . .

the famous doctor lights up the stage in this magical tale of adventure , unlikely friendships and talking animals .

follows a peculiar doctor who can speak with animals , shunning human patients in favor of the critters . more

british author hugh lofting created the doctor dolittle character in the 1920s series of children’s books , in which a victorian—era physician opts to treat animals instead of humans because he’s able to speak with them .

robert downey jr . will star in the voyage of doctor dolittle , based on the character from the 1920s series of children’s books by hugh lofting . stephen gaghan ( syriana , gold ) will direct the film based on a script he wrote , with an earlier draft by tom shepherd .

if it ' s true that @ robertdowneyjr is starring in a dr . dolittle remake . . . it ' ll be the first time i actually will want to watch dr . dolittle

you might like doctor dolittle , or you might not . even if it was a box - office bomb , it’s a memorable musical of sweeping scope . the doctor himself is interesting , and the idea of being able to actually converse with the millions of species outside of our own is still an intriguing premise .

the excellent film of truman capote ' s in cold blood was bypassed for a best picture nomination in favor of dr . dolittle . capote responded , " it ' s outragous ! anything allowing a dolittle to happen is so rooked up it doesn ' t mean anything . "

british author hugh lofting created the doctor dolittle character in the 1920s series of children’s books , in which a victorian - era physician opts to treat animals instead of humans because he’s able to speak with them .

the studio’s attempts to influence the academy were more successful : doctor dolittle was nominated for seven academy awards , including best picture , and actually won five , including best song for “talk to the animals . ”

dolittle lives on the island a short while , until sophie the seal and her husband arrive with an announcement – dolittle’s absence has driven the animals of england to go on strike , and as such , the human authorities have pardoned the doctor and urge him to return . with the islanders’ help , dolittle summons the giant lunar moth , a colossal insect which he saddles and flies back to britain .

come early to get up - close with the the animals of pampered pets petting farm , starting at 12 : 30 p . m . ! rex harrison is sheer perfection as the kindly animal doctor in leslie bricusse ' s musical fantasy doctor dolittle , based on hugh lofting ' s charming series of children ' s stories .

the score is similarly lacking in character , its best - known songs notwithstanding ( the oscar - winning “talk to the animals” among them ) , though there’s a pleasing oompah - like feistiness to the ensemble numbers that places “doctor dolittle” squarely in the era of “oliver ! ” — the period of the “dolittle” movie .

just the title character ( rex harrison ) and his patients , in the second stanza of his signature song by leslie bricusse , in 20th century - fox ' s expensive , underperforming musical doctor dolittle , 1967 . >

doctor dolittle’s dream is to one day travel the world in search of the legendary “great pink sea snail . ” unfortunately , accepting payment from his animal patients in the form of “whatever they happen to have” hasn’t left the doctor with an abundance of capital . luckily , a mysterious acquaintance sends dolittle a generous gift : a pushmi - pullyu , an extraordinarily rare creature closely resembling a two - headed llama ( with one head at each end ) .

i mean a better film of [ italic ] man of la mancha [ / italic ] .

they still cost more than the average film and did not turn profits until they were reissued .

you implied that popularity equals quality when there is no correlation between the two . it is also disingenuous to make this film representative of film musicals of the era when there are so many better ones . keep in mind how many of them got cut after release , so when they finally made it to neighborhood theaters , those who saw them couldn ' t figure out what was going on ! i can ' t recall whether they cut this film after its premiere , but a lot of the press art had doctor dolittle on a giraffe , and that ' s not actually in the final cut of the film .

for those tempted to close as a dupe , please note that a similar question ( urltoken ) is specifically about the 1998 eddie murphy film series , not the splendid 1967 rex harrison musical film .

lofing released the first book in the series , “the story of doctor dolittle , ” in 1920 . the popular children’s series follows doctor dolittle , who can speak with animals and treats them rather than humans . the books are set in the victorian - era , the same setting as sherlock holmes , whom downey has also played . there are twelve books in total in the series , with the final books having been published several years after lofting’s passing in 1947 .

after the surgery , mark describes dolittle as " the straw that stirs the drink " to calloway . in

the studio , which acquired the project following a heated bidding war , has set up “ the voyage of doctor dolittle ” with producers joe roth and jeff kirschenbaum through their roth / kirschenbaum films , alongside susan downey for team downey .

…next directed rex harrison in doctor dolittle ( 1967 ) . a critical and commercial disappointment , the film endured numerous production problems , including difficulties handling some 1 , 500 animals . the director rebounded with the gruesome but popular true - crime tale the boston strangler ( 1968 ) , a suspenseful account of the serial killer who murdered more than…

fans can ' t wait to see rdj switch back and forth from billionaire with iron suits to doctor who communicates with animals .

animated adaptation : the 1970 tv cartoon produced by depatie freleng enterprises was loosely based on this film .

tagalong kid : tommy stubbins . this seems to be his only purpose throughout much of the film .

having escaped from the authorities , doctor dolittle " borrows " a boat owned by general bellowes to set off on his quest to find the great pink sea snail . emma is discovered on board and she questions the doctor ' s navigational strategy ( fabulous places ) . they set off for sea star island and , after encountering a storm at sea , end up shipwrecked in the very place they were looking for . there the travelers discover straight arrow , the friend who sent the pushmi - pullyu to doctor dolittle . straight arrow explains that sea star island is an animal sanctuary ( save the animals ) .

in its new slot , the film will go head - to - head with disney’s untitled disneytoon movie .

brian terrill’s 100 film favorites – # 34 : “follow me , boys ! ” / “mr . holland’s opus”

stephen gaghan , who most recently directed matthew mcconaughey’s gold , will helm the film from his own screenplay .

five years later , doctor dolittle has learned almost 500 animal languages , has a thriving practice and is planning a big adventure to seek out the great pink sea snail ( the time of our lives ) . a visit from emma fairfax , the niece of general bellowes , ends on a sour note , but the mood soon brightens with the arrival of the pushmi - pullyu , a two - headed llama . this gift has been sent by a friend to help doctor dolittle raise funds for his quest . he takes the pushmi - pullyu to albert blossom of blossom ' s mammoth circus ( i ' ve never seen anything like it - part 1 ) and makes a deal to present the unique animal for a limited four - week engagement ( i ' ve never seen anything like it - part 2 ) with an even split of the profits . doctor dolittle earns enough money from the circus to go on his journey , but makes good on a promise to help sophie the seal escape the circus and reunite with her husband . this act of friendship lands doctor dolittle in court . though he proves that he was only helping the seal , and that he can indeed talk to animals , the doctor is committed to an asylum by the magistrate , general bellowes . doctor dolittle protests ( like animals ) , but is sent away , leaving polynesia and madeline to plan a rescue .

the movie originally opened with a long prologue that showed dolittle riding atop a giraffe through the jungle in search of a hippo with a sore tooth . the scene was cut in response to negative comments about the film ' s length in previews . but the ad department went nuts because the entire ad campaign including the posters was built around dolittle riding that giraffe . so in the finished film , they inserted a brief and entirely pointless sequence on the floating island where the doctor excuses himself and rides off atop the all - important giraffe in search of the sore - tooth hippo .

while there’s no news yet on the movie’s plot , the title is quite similar to the second of lofting’s books , “the voyages of doctor dolittle . ” in that book , the titular doctor travels with tommy stubbins , his assistant , across the globe to polynesia in search of the world’s greatest naturalist , long arrow , who has gone missing . the book won the newbery medal in 1923 .

doctor dolittle star eddie murphy is the frontrunner to host next year ' s oscars award ceremony , according to a report in the la times , as the details of the event – which has become a major tv ratings fixture in the us – are finalised .

robert downey jr . will star in the movie “the voyage of doctor dolittle , ” based on the classic character who can talk to animals , for universal pictures . stephen gaghan , who most recently directed matthew mcconaughey’s “gold , ” will helm the film from his own screenplay . tom shepherd wrote an earlier draft . the studio , which acquired the project following [ … ]

doctor dolittle ( 1998 ) directed by betty thomas , usa : fox . ace ventura : pet detective ( 1994 ) directed by tom shadyac , usa : morgan creek productions . mr ed ( 1958 - 1966 ) created by walter brooks , usa : filmways television .

universal’s new untitled doctor dolittle movie , starring robert downey jr . , will be opening on may 24 , 2019 , the studio announced on monday night . stephen gaghan directs the new take on dolittle , which will be produced by joe roth and jeff kirschenbaum under their roth / kirschenbaum films ( “alice in wonderland , ” “maleficent” ) , along with susan downey ( “sherlock holmes” [ … ]

how dare they make a dr dolittle remake with robert downey jr . how dare they try to live up to eddie murphy

discussions of right and wrong . an important comedic moment that teaches the film ' s moral of family importance over money is enforced using slapstick to punish the ' baddie ' characters in the film . ( see photograph below ) .

at the trial , dolittle et al are shocked to find that general bellowes is the judge . to prove his innocence , dolittle calls upon a string of animal witnesses and demonstrates that he really can speak to them , revealing embarrassing information about their human owners , which only further biases the court ( largely composed of said owners ) against him . before being hauled away to jail , doctor dolittle sings “like animals , ” a moving song in which he condemns the various ways humans mistreat and disrespect our fellow animals :

dolittle decides to partner with albert blossom , a circus proprietor played by david attenborough’s brother , richard ( who would later play hammond in jurassic park ) . with the pushmi - pullyu as the circus’ star attraction , blossom and dolittle rake in money .

the book " the studio " by john gregory dunne has extensive pages about the making and marketing of the film .

the film version of sgt . pepper is wholly to blame for the nervous breakdowns of all who suffered through it .

defrosting ice queen : emma fairfax starts out hating the doctor ' s guts . thanks to matthew ( and his singing ) she warms up considerably .

today’s pick is probably the highest - ranking instance of a film that i love , but pretty much everyone else hates . it’s the 1967 musical adaptation of hugh lofting’s doctor dolittle series , about an eccentric veterinarian who can actually “talk to the animals . ” the music was written by leslie bricusse and anthony newley , who would go on to score willy wonka & the chocolate factory in 1971 .

actually , when dr . dolittle opened at the state , it was still a single screen theater of 3 , 300 seats .

the musical tells the classic tale of a wacky but kind doctor who can talk to animals . the show takes the audience on a journey from the small english village of puddleby - on - the - marsh to the far corners of the world . doctor dolittle is wrongly accused of murder and , once pronounced innocent , continues with his search for the great pink sea snail – the oldest and wisest of the creatures on earth .

another aspect of these characters ' link with animals is their profession : dolittle becomes a doctor that treats animals and not a vet , and ventura is a ' pet detective ' . they both favour animals in their work and their strong bonds with them are reiterated in the way they strive to help animals . both of them contrast other members of their professions as the films show these other characters ' lack of interest in animals . in dolittle ' s case we meet a vet who watches an animal die and has no remorse whatsoever , stating that " my patients can ' t tell me where it hurts " . obviously , dolittle can , hence the film ' s naming of him as ' doctor ' instead of ' vet ' - the distinction between animal and human to him , and to ventura , is irrelevant .

along with camelot ( 1967 ) , released two months earlier , this film is often credited with killing the family musical .

emma fairfax and gen . bellowes were created for the film . they didn ' t appear in any of the books .

mildred natwick ( with her sole nomination ) recreating her broadway role as mrs . ethel banks ( jane fonda ' s stodgy mother ) in the film version of neil simon ' s barefoot in the park ( the film ' s sole nomination )

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

when rex harrison stood on the shores of marigot bay in 1967 filming the above scene from the movie doctor dolittle , neither he nor his colleagues had so much as an inkling that the fibreglass mollusc would become the subject of a mystery that would not be solved for almost half a century .

r170 : that ' s the one all the kids saw that fall . it ' s everything [ italic ] doctor dolittle [ / italic ] isn ' t : short , fun , tuneful , and able to hold its own against comparisons to the source material despite being nothing like it .

that wonderful little man of juvenile fiction , the great dr . dolittle , who has fascinated generations of children with his capacity to talk with animals , turns up in the rather elongated and disconcertingly suave figure of rex harrison in the film titled " dr . dolittle , " which began a two - a - day run at loew ' s state last night . view full article in timesmachine »

variety reports universal acquired the rights for the project , titled the voyage of doctor dolittle , which will be based on author hugh lofting ' s 1920s children ' s book series . stephen gaghan ( gold , syriana ) will direct the movie from his own script , with susan downey , joe roth , and jeff kirschenbaum producing . there ' s no word yet on the film ' s plot or a release date .

the cgi in the film adds to this blurring and allows the animals the agency to speak . the effects are pretty impressive for a film made in 1998 and there is a certain acknowledgement to this advancement in one scene . dolittle is watching tv in the mental institution where he is sent after being diagnosed as ' crazy ' for speaking to animals . he and two other patients are watching an episode of mr . ed , a tv show made in the late 50s to early 60s , in which clint eastwood interacts with a horse . in the film , dolittle and the patients discuss how it is peanut butter making the horse move its lips ( see photograph ) . here , doctor dolittle acknowledges the presence of animals in other productions but isolates itself as one in which the animals are characters , as opposed to spectacles . they are given identities , emotion and the ability to physically speak , making the boundaries between human and animal further distorted .

in the voyage of doctor dolittle , the iron man star will follow in the footsteps of rex harrison and eddie murphy in the role of a physician who lives with a variety of animals that he’s able to talk to . there was a competitive battle for the project with universal ultimately winning out .

the medved brothers were responsible for damaging this film ' s reputation further with that stupid book of theirs . consider the source .

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dogs are dumb : averted with dolittle ' s dog jip , whose excellent sense of smell provides a wonderful navigation system aboard the flounder .

you no take candle : dolittle initially addresses a native of sea star island this way , until he learns the man speaks fluent english .

the classic tale of kindness to animals trots , crawls and flies onto the stage in doctor dolittle , the big broadway - sized family musical . all of the characters we ' ve come to love through the stories of hugh lofting and the magical movie musical are given new life in the stage version .

the delicious adventures experienced by charlie bucket on his visit to willy wonka ' s mysterious chocolate factory light up the stage in this captivating adaptation of roald dahl ' s fantastical tale . featuring the enchanting songs from the 1971 film starring gene wilder and new songs by leslie bricusse ( jekyll & hyde , doctor dolittle ) and anthony newley , roald dahl ' s willy wonka is a scrumdidilyumptious musical guaranteed to delight everyone ' s sweet tooth .

matthew takes his young friend tommy to meet dolittle ( rex harrison ) , and we learn the good doctor’s backstory : he was once a practicing physician , treating human patients . however , these patients took exception to the veritable menagerie of animals that dolittle kept in his home , and his practice began steadily declining . this suited the doctor just fine , as he likewise grew more and more misanthropic , preferring the company of animals to that of people . dolittle was saved from becoming a run - of - the - mill crazy cat person when his pet parrot polynesia remarked that animals are capable of talking to one another , with each species conversing in a distinct language . dolittle re - dedicated his life to learning every animal language he could . over the years , he has amassed a repertoire of some 497 such languages ( with matthew proposing they have a party when he reaches 500 ) .

while treating the island animals , dolittle is surprised by the arrival of the great pink sea snail , also suffering from a cold due to the island’s wanderings . the snail offers to give matthew , tommy , and emma a ride back home ( the doctor has opted to stay on the island to continue his studies of the plentiful wildlife ) . emma objects to this , as she has developed feelings for the doctor , resulting in an awkward love - triangle in which the oddly sexless rex harrison doesn’t really belong . before it can get too awkward , however , dolittle succeeds in shooing his friends back to england .

an important distinguishing factor in this film is the nature of animal communication . yes , doctor dolittle can speak to animals , but are they speaking to him ? this issue is one discussed in a review by charles taylor on salon . com , in which he says : , ' he ' s the man who discovers animals talk to him , which makes his life crazy ' . whereas many films , born free for example , present humans dominantly invading animal territory , this films shows the opposite . the animals seek out dolittle and engage with him . they are the power behind the plot and the humans follow their lead . the dvd sleeve reiterates this , displaying dolittle listening to the animals , not speaking to them .

musical numbers : “my friend the doctor , ” “the vegetarian , ” “talk to the animals , ” “doctor dolittle , ” “you’re impossible , ” “i’ve never seen anything like it , ” “beautiful things , ” “when i look into your eyes , ” “like animals , ” “after today , ” “fabulous places , ” “where are the words ? , ” “i think i like you , ” “save the animals , ” “something in your smile , ” “the voice of protest . ”

at 32 % " fresh " , this is the film with the lowest rotten tomatoes score to get a best picture oscar nomination .

arthur p . jacobs tried to get the sherman brothers to write songs for the film , but they were tied to walt disney .

…as a circus owner in doctor dolittle ( 1967 ) . after a lengthy acting hiatus , he returned to the screen in american director steven spielberg’s jurassic park ( 1993 ) , playing the obliviously hubristic owner of a dinosaur theme park , a role he reprised in the 1997 sequel . he then played kris kringle in…

maya dolittle , who can talk to animals like her father , is placed on special assignment by the president of the united states of america .

“iron man” star robert downey jr . will be playing the lead role in the upcoming “the voyage of dr . dolittle” ( via variety ) .

the film , which starred rex harrison and was a musical , was not well received at the time , but was nominated for an oscar for best picture and won for best original song and visual effects . another dr . dolittle pic was released in 1998 and starred eddie murphy in the titular role . the fox film was a success and resulted in four sequels , although several went direct - to - video .

· a marx brothers season runs at the national film theatre , london se1 until june 30 . box office : 020 - 7928 3232 .

r81 : i ' ve never understood why despite actually being in this film , anthony newley had nothing to do with writing the score .

the film also faced strong competition from the jungle book ( 1967 ) , which opened the same week to considerable critical and audience acclaim .

the animal presence in doctor dolittle ( 1998 ) is extremely intriguing , using impressive cgi and a vast spectrum of species to depict a humanistic side to animals that was , until then , uncommon in film . eddie murphy ' s character , john dolittle , provides audiences with an identity crisis : family man vs lucrative businessman . his gift of communicating with animals governs the plot and leads to the inevitable moral and the resolution to this crisis : that happiness and family are more important than money and material goods . his transformation to animal - loving philanthropist leads him to meet a plethora of animals , all with their own highly developed identities and whose influence unites his somewhat disconnected family . the animals are given the most influential position in the film : even the narrator is a dog ! dolittle ' s gift initially lands him in a mental institution , but this family film works hard to prove that , as eddie murphy professes as the credits start to roll : " it ' s not a big thing ; we ' re all basically the same " .

like bonnie and clyde , but don’t consider it a landmark film . the ny times critic was not wrong to point out that a moronic gang is turned into something full of fun and frolic like thoroughly modern millie . entertaining , yet a sentimental film and anything but hard edged .

then there is the ending . blasted by bosley crowther , but hailed by so many now , it’s surprising how quickly it is all over . it is one of the finest made scenes in all of film history and dede allen should have won the oscar for that scene alone ( that doctor dolittle was nominated and allen was not is one of the worst mistakes the academy ever made ) . that scene alone justifies the nighthawk awards for editing , cinematography , sound , visual effects , sound editing and makeup . i struggle to think of any scene of pure violence that matches it for pure poetical expression on film .

all goes swimmingly until the doctor takes pity on a circus seal named sophie . sophie claims to be homesick and to “miss her husband , ” a seal still at large in the wild . dolittle dresses sophie in women’s clothing to smuggle her out of the circus , then pauses to sing a touching love ballad before hurling her off a cliff into the ocean . nearby farmers see the doc throwing what appears to be a woman’s body into the sea , and dolittle is arrested for murder .

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watertight films represents the largest international collection of underwater directors , cameramen and film technicians . we are a ‘one stop shop’ for all above and below…

this was the right film at the right time . that a film with this power , this quality , this storyline , should win the oscar just a week after the assassination of martin luther king seems only fitting . it’s just too bad it had to win over bonnie and clyde .

a long film that drags slightly , but rex harrison and his famous speaking singing voice take us into a make believe job with a fun adventure to follow . whilst doc dolittle is a musical , there were very few songs that were memorable , but the animals and adventure provide the biggest attraction .

this film was so amazing that it changed film criticism . joseph morganstern , the critic for newsweek , found himself haunted by it after writing a critical review , went back and saw it again and wrote a new review raving about it . pauline kael , her reputation on the rise whose piece on the film was rejected by the new republic and essentially began her career at the new yorker and roger ebert , still only six months into his job as a film critic , both heaped praise upon the film . crowther’s review for the new york times and his refusal to back down from it ended up costing him his job as their film critic . yet there are still those who resist . the afi list had it originally at 25 , but dropped it to 42 for its new list , below the sound of music and in the top 1000 , it still doesn’t quite make the top 100 . both lists will eventually correct themselves . it is one of the greatest films in history , the single best film of the 1960’s .

in 1998 , the jim henson company co - produced the london west end musical production of doctor dolittle , based on the 1967 movie . the majority of the henson company ' s involvement was in the creation of the nearly one hundred animatronic animals created for the show , including a five - foot tall snail , a seal , dog , monkey , horse , pig , and the most famous of the show , the pushmi - pullyu . the show starred phillip schofield as the doctor who could " talk to the animals . "

stephen gaghan , who most recently directed matthew mcconaughey’s “gold , ” will helm the film from his own screenplay . tom shepherd wrote an earlier draft .

a new feature , the bay of silence , starring olga kurylenko , claes bang and brian cox is preparing to film in the uk and italy .

over 100 , 000 film lovers across the globe unite for one week for one film festival don’t miss the 20th annual manhattan short film festival coming to peoples bank theatre on september 28 & 29 , 2017 ! screenings at 7 : 00 p . m . each night . the global film festival is screening 10 finalists from among 1 , 615 entries from 75 countries . the final 10 films represent independent filmmakers from the u . s . , georgia , italy , latvia , new zealand , spain , switzerland , syria , and the united kingdom . these films will be screened before an audience of…

the movie was dogged with bad luck , which included upsetting locals on location both in castle combe in england and on marigot bay in st lucia ; production costs were three times the movie’s original budget , and the film’s revenue after release was only half as much as the film cost to make .

it is clear that , other than the dolittle family themselves , animals are the most important element of the film . however , it takes the duration of the film for animals to become equal to humans . we are given hints throughout of their significance : a dog narrator , the importance placed on the naming of animals and the cgi allowing the animals to appear complete in their functioning and communication . dolittle ' s relationships with the animals are much more cohesive and friendly than with most humans allowing the animals ' characters to have several dimensions . as a result they are able to govern the moral outcome of the plot .

previously – march 20 : universal pictures won an auction for the voyage of doctor dolittle , with robert downey jr . playing the title character and stephen gaghan directing and rewriting a tom shepherd script based on the 1920s children’s books by hugh lofting . joe roth and jeff kirschenbaum will produce for their roth / kirschenbaum films , alongside susan downey from team downey .

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

a remake of the film was made in 1998 , but it was played for laughs and was modernized by removing all traces of steam from the plot .

brian terrill is the host of television show count gauntly’s horrors from the public domain . you can k eep up with brian’s 100 film favorites countdown here .

dolittle’s compadres bust him out of prison , and they sail away on a boat purchased with their recently - acquired circus booty . emma stows away as well , warming to the doctor’s worldview and his sense of adventure . though the ship is wrecked by a stormy sea , dolittle and friends eventually drift to sea - star island , a tiny island which has remained uncharted throughout the ages because it floats from place to place . here they meet william shakespeare , the leader of a native tribe who name themselves after favorite authors .

if you have the time to spend - with some kiddies in the room - this isn ' t such a bad way to entertain . doctor dolittle has enough charisma to make for a nostalgic evening . popcorn is probably a good idea . . . and a little scotch . i ' ll admit that i ' ve never seen the eddie murphy remake . the

perpetual poverty : the doctor spends all his money looking after animals . not helped by the fact that most of his clients are wild animals , who pay him in foodstuffs rather than actual currency .

doctor dolittle is a world - renowned veterinarian who speaks a wide array of animal languages . he sets off from his home . . . in puddleby - on - the - marsh , england , in search of the great pink sea snail . in so doing , he and his friends meet such exotic creatures as the pushme - pullyu and the giant moon moth .

shakespeare implores dolittle to aid the island’s animals : sea - star has floated too far north , chilling the tropical creatures who live there . the doctor recruits a mighty whale to nudge the island back in a southerly direction . unfortunately , the shock from the whale’s blow causes a teetering boulder to fall into a volcano , an event foretold by the islanders to be a bad omen . dolittle and co . are summarily sentenced to be executed . they are just barely saved when the island collides with “the mainland , ” perfectly rejoining the continent where it had originally broken off ( trees split in half by the fissure even come together flawlessly ) . this is seen as a positive omen , and the doctor is heralded as a hero .

the 40th academy awards for the film year 1967 . the nominations were announced on february 19 , 1968 and the awards were held on april 10 , 1968 .

the score for " dr . dolittle " is much better than the film , though the released lp of the songs has a few that were cut from the final print . my favorite is " at the crossroads , " thought the lp does not include the effective intro . this is one score that certainly deserves an expanded release .


as summers die is a 1986 american made-for-television drama film starring scott glenn , jamie lee curtis , bette davis and beah richards , directed by jean-claude tramont .

the film is loosely based on winston groom 's 1980 novel of the same name about greed , bigotry and justice in late 1950s segregationist southern louisiana .

it was filmed in valdosta , georgia and premiered on hbo on may 18 , 1986 .

it was later released on vhs .

as summers die

as summers die <EOT> as summers die by winston groom - hardcover * * brand new * * .

there are no critic reviews yet for as summers die . keep checking rotten tomatoes for updates !

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as summers die is a 1986 drama film directed by jean - claude tramont . it was filmed in georgia as a made for hbo original movie and later released on vhs .

buffy was born to hank and joyce summers on january 19 , 1981 , in los angeles , california .

ya buddy readers ' . . . : this is not a test by courtney summers - restarting november 9th 2015

as summers die was produced as an " hbo premiere " attraction . set in the segregationist south of the 1950s , the film pits the wealthy but decadent members of a landed - gentry white family against a feisty old black woman , on whose property oil has been discovered . idealistic attorney scott glenn bucks the family - - and the inbred prejudices of the community - - to protect the woman ' s interests . he finds himself with two unsuspected allies in the forms of young jamie lee curtis and ancient bette davis , two " renegade " members of the very family that wants to grab the oil - rich land . as summers die had its cable - tv debut on may 17 , 1986 .

we’d love your help . let us know what’s wrong with this preview of this is not a test by courtney summers .

recommended : definitely for an engrossing , addictive , original read , this is not a test is the book you’re looking for . also , if you’re already a summers’ fan , you’ll like the narration and barren / harsh / hurting summers - style protag .

what i loved about this book was how sucked in i got . made an awesome reading experience . i truly love courtney summers for that .

in the film , buffy says she plans to “graduate from school , go to europe , marry christian slater , and die . ” her television counterpart achieves three out of four .

this was my first book by courtney summers , but i will definitely be checking out more of her books . i was really impressed with this one .

. nihlistic and dream - like - - summers has challenged us with a narrator clearly suffering from post - traumatic stress disorder , depression and suicidal tendencies .

“i wouldn ' t have left you like that . not like she did to me . " i swallow hard . " she always said i ' d die without her and she left anyway . " " but you didn ' t die , " he says . " i did , " i say . " i ' m just waiting for the rest of me to catch up . ”

overall , this was a really great read and this is the first book i ' ve read by courtney summers but it certainly won ' t be the last .

movie . stated by joss to be " pretty much accepted as canonical " .

the courage and die - hard work ethos of bette davis shows the whole while shes ' s in many scenes of this , her last tv movie . she ' s the great aunt , . . .

it only took me a few pages to remember how much i love summers ' unique style of writing : punchy , direct , achey , intense . minimal words conveying maximum impact .

despite failing and quitting with cheerleading in the tv series , buffy is sometimes still mentioned as so . darla references her as “that cheerleader” in " dear boy " , and twilight calls her “that goofy little cheerleader” in " last gleaming " . although , this may be a reference to her past as a cheerleader in hemery high school , as explored in " the origin " .

to commemorate our 50 th anniversary , we had a limited number of diamond disk die - cast models produced . the 1 : 32 scale model of the dk2610 features fully moveable parts , making it a great gift for farmers young and old . the suggested list price is $ 99 but is now $ 75 for a limited time . if you’re interested in purchasing one , please contact your local summers dealer . but don’t wait too long…they’re going fast !

buffy is referred only two times over the course of the series as " buffy the vampire slayer " . the first time is in " anne " , and the last one in " help " . she’s usually referred only as " the slayer " . glory identifies her as " a vampire slayer " .

packaging should be the same as what is found in a retail store , unless the item is handmade or was packaged by the manufacturer in non - retail packaging , such as an unprinted box or plastic bag .

when dawn enrolled in the recently rebuilt sunnydale high as a freshman , buffy was offered a job as guidance counselor by principal robin wood , which she gratefully accepted . [ 83 ] initially , she found it to be an unfulfilling experience , as she was unable to connect with any of the students that came to her for advice , while others had trivial reasons . she soon became concerned when a girl with psychic powers , cassie newton , came to her claiming she would soon die . buffy at first thought she was suicidal , but after learning it was an upcoming event , she saved her from being sacrificed by a group of demon - worshiping students . afterwards , buffy discovered it was actually because of a congenital heart condition that cassie would die from . cassie would be the first of numerous young women buffy wouldn’t be able to save in the following months . [ 84 ]

as the main character in the franchise , buffy has also appeared in the majority of buffy expanded universe material .

scooby gang summers family hemery high school sunnydale high school watchers council class of ' 99 uc sunnydale angel investigations ( ally ) the initiative doublemeat palace slayer organization pick me up deepscan s . f . p . d . magic council safe zone

“she always said i ' d die without her and she left anyway . ” “but you didn ' t die . ” “i did , ” i say . “i ' m just waiting for the rest of me to catch up . ” this isn ' t a typical zombie book . let me say that first . don ' t write this off because of the zombie - book think , or the dystopia thing . and don ' t add it because you like zombie books , either . i don ' t think i ' d class this as a dystopia . so why should you read this ? this is going to sound weird , but i think you should read this if you like and then there

courtney summers was born in belleville , ontario , 1986 . at age 14 , she dropped out of high school . at age 18 , she wrote her first novel . cracked up to be was published in 2008 , when she was 22 and went on to win the 2009 cybil award in ya fiction . since then , she’s published four more critically acclaimed books : some girls are , fall for anything , this is not a test and all the rage , as well as an

after i read the review written by " moviola - 8 , " i was immediately inspired to buy " as summers die " on ebay . i was hoping that this movie would show the brilliance that writer , winston groom , showed in " forrest gump , " but i ' m just not feeling it . . . not even close . this movie didn ' t make the same impression on me that it did on the other reviewers , and i was disappointed . the story meandered along and did not bring up any feelings in me . i didn ' t feel indignant , outraged or anything else . nothing . maybe something was lost in translation between the book and the screenplay ( by a different writer ) . as long as we ' re talking about old movies that are hard to find , but worth the viewing , i ' d like to find " the traveling executioner " starring stacy keach , but i don ' t think it exists on dvd or vhs . now that is an original and very different story - as is " forrest gump . "

the gnashing of teeth . the desperate creation of mcgyver implements and traps . the fighting to survive . it ' s been too long since i read a zombie novel and i ' ve been missing the sense of butt - kicking hopefulness they can bring . unfortunately , while summers is stellar at character development , this isn ' t the book to assuage the craving for fighting the undead and affirming life . this is holden caufield meets lord of the flies . nihlistic and dream - like - - summers has challenged us with a narrator cle

as for me : i really enjoyed the reading experience , but didn’t end up loving the book . does this make sense ?

urltoken forbidden passion and burning prejudice ignite in the heat of the deep south . emotions are riding high in a small southern town . a lawyer , willie croft ( scott glenn ) , is trying to defend an ageing black woman against the holts clan , a powerful and greedy family . a family with a dark and sinister past , whose evil schemes and plots are safe in their incestuous past . that is until lawyer willie croft finds an unlikely ally in whitsey ( jamie lee curtis ) , a wayward cousin of the holts . the pressure ' s on and nothing ' s going to stop the holts from winning , especially their own kin . as summers die is the sensational story of love and hate , power and passion .

however , i was ultimately unsatisfied . i didn’t really connect to the characters . i was curious about what would go down , but not affected by any of it . i felt very disconnected to sloane , who is disconnected to herself in many ways . sloane is just as messed up ( if not more ) than any other of summers protagonists : abused , broken , closed - up , suicidal , distanced from other characters .

the last chapter was just as intense as the first . i was feverishly turning the pages wanting to know what was going to happen next . this chapter was action packed and seemed to fly by so quickly my head was spinning at the end . i am so happy about sloane ' s personal ending

throughout most of her career as the slayer , buffy functioned as a reluctant hero . she constantly wished for nothing more than a normal life , an attitude that was particularly prevalent during her high school years . however , as time moved on , buffy slowly became more accepting of her slayer duties , particularly after kendra helped her to understand that being the slayer was part of who she was and not simply a burden forced upon her shoulders against her will . after her meeting with the first slayer and battle with dracula , buffy finally came to terms with her role as the slayer . despite her ever - present reluctance to be the slayer even in her later years , buffy has been depicted as having an incredibly strong sense of responsibility with the people she saved and the world as well . this was shown in her disagreements over faith’s impulsive and careless attitude and her self - righteous stance on many other things .

other important relationships of buffy’s have included pike , parker , riley finn , and satsu . pike was her friend and love interest when she first began her journey as the slayer , but the pair broke up before she moved to sunnydale . in college , she dated riley in the hopes of having a “normal” relationship , only to discover he was an initiative soldier . satsu was buffy’s fellow slayer , as well as her first and only same - sex liaison

he’s constantly hot headed , but the only reason he’s not lashing out as much is because he still has his twin sister grace . grace , despite just

buffy then led her classmates in a climactic battle against the ascended mayor and his minions , which culminated in an explosion that destroyed the mayor as well as sunnydale high school . after the smoke cleared , angel left for los angeles so that buffy could try to have a more normal life without him . [ 45 ]

buffy became a supernatural consultant to sfpd , working alongside spike and dowling . she assisted in jean anthony ’ case , who was attacked by an incubus . this made buffy revisit spike’ attempt rape , as well as many difficulties through her life , and the couple finally talked and came to terms about their turbulent past . [ 139 ]

buffy anne summers was a slayer that was activated in the late 20th century . born on january 19 1981 , she was called to be the slayer in 1996 at the age of fifteen . buffy was originally living in los angeles ; but , due to an incident involving a gang of vampires at hemery high school , she moved to sunnydale with her mother . there , she acted as guardian of the hellmouth for seven years before the town’s destruction in mid - 2003 . initially a reluctant hero who constantly wished for nothing more than a normal life , buffy eventually grew to embrace her destiny . buffy is unique as a slayer in many ways ; she refuses to sacrifice her ordinary life for her supernatural destiny , often operates as part of a team with her friends the scooby gang , and has maintained several romantic relationships , two of which were with notorious vampires angel and spike .

as the mayor relied on faith to help him prepare for his ascension , buffy worked first to thwart his plans , then to organize a resistance . faith impeded these efforts by

buffy’s relationship with riley slowly began deteriorate as she repeatedly failed to give him the emotional intimacy he craved . riley began visiting a vampire brothel where he would allow vampires to bite him ; when buffy discovered this as a result of spike’s interference , she destroyed the brothel and confronted riley , after which he left her and returned to the military . [ 64 ] buffy dealt with riley’s departure as best as she could , but remained emotionally sensitive . buffy’s pain over having had two failed relationships caused her to take an interest in ben wilkinson , a handsome medic . however , an encounter with the love - struck robot girlfriend of one of her former sunnydale high classmate warren mears made hers realize that she was overly dependent on men and decided she needed to be by herself for a while . this proved to be greatly fortunate as ben was secretly glory’s human vessel . [ 65 ]

i don ' t know how i ' m going to do this , move through the hours like someone who wants to still be breathing when i had so firmly made up my mind to stop . wow . this little book has completely floored me . i was not expecting something so deep , so very melancholic yet shot through with the irrepressible human need to hope . not just irrepressible , summers shows us that hope is irreducible . stripped to its basest core , hope just might be the evolutionary urge that has kept us going as a species for

if counting archive footage as an appearance , buffy , cordelia and angel are the only characters that appear in both the first and final seasons of buffy the vampire slayer and angel .

i feel as happy reading a book all day as i am happy staying all afternoon with a dear friend . i could tell you 11 / 02 was a normal day , that i went to college , talked to friends , drank coffee , studied a little , played just dance and slept . but what i will remember of today is this wonderful book .

3 - 1 / 2 stars , rounded up . but i ' m really not sure how to rate this book . as everyone probably already knows , this is courtney summers ' zombie book , and on the surface it ' s got the familiar elements : zombie apocalypse occurs , nearly everyone is infected almost immediately , small bands of survivors hole up and hope for the best while knowing they ' re probably going to meet their doom . sloane price is one of those survivors . by sheer accident , she ' s fallen in with a group of five students who make it

she and her friends were able to move to a haunted building in tenderloin , with discount on their rent after exorcising the place . [ 136 ] buffy shared the apartment with willow and dawn , while neighbors to xander and spike’s , as well as giles’ apartment . both in a better place than their previous encounters , buffy and spike began a relationship . [ 137 ]

meanwhile , a younger sister , dawn , had mysteriously appeared in the summers’ household ; her existence had been seamlessly integrated into the memories of all those she had ever known . [ 61 ] after casting a spell on herself in the hopes of discovering the mystical source of an illness she believed her mother was blighted by , buffy discovered that dawn was not her sister at all , but rather a ball of magical energy known as the key capable of opening interdimensional portals . a group of monks had influenced the key to take human shape in order to protect it from a mentally unstable higher power known as glorificus ; they had chosen to put the key in the slayer’s care , as a sister , in the hopes that she would protect it with her life . though buffy was understandably skeptical of dawn when she learned that she had been fabricated and integrated into her life without her prior knowledge , she quickly came to accept her responsibility as dawn’s protector , not because she felt obliged to carry out the monks’ wishes , but because she slowly realized that she truly did love her sister , regardless of the circumstances of her existence . [ 62 ]

harrowing . i sincerely never thought that i could ever be so fascinated by a zombie post - apocalyptic story before , but there’s a first to everything , isn’t there ? however , it’s definitely more focused on the psychological elements than the world - building , since it underlines the theme of survival and how precious and fragile life is . courtney summers , you’re writing terribly tearful stories . please don’t stop .

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having moved back in with dawn and xander , she realized that she had recognized this strong vampire that had bested her but could not remember where she had seen her before . buffy hangs out with dowling and billy as well as xander and dawn , seeming to be somewhat happy that she had finally managed some semblance of an average night . however , she was ripped away from it just as quickly and teleported to the magic council , courtesy of none other than the old one , illyria . she abruptly forced her to join this council , much to buffy’s great confusion and indignation . [ 125 ]

find all of my reviews at : urltoken 3 . 5 stars " this must be what dorothy felt like , i think . maybe . if dorothy was six scared teenagers and oz was hell . " when i saw alllllll of my friends reading all the rage recently i figured i would end up reading it wrong ( see exhibit a ) and opted for summers’ version of zombies instead . . . what can i say ? i’m not interested in being the oddball again this week but i enjoy brain - nomming stories . * shrug * however , being that summers is summers , this book had a lot less of this . . . with a lot more of this . . . the premise seemed familiar – the zombie apocalypse began a week ago , leaving a brain , an athlete , a basket case , a princess , and a criminal six students no choice but to work together in hopes of surviving the danger that potentially lurks around every corner of their former high school where they are holed up . . . the only thing that separates them from the undead is a chain link fence . . . * dun dun dunnnnnnnnn * okay , so while the basic concept has been done a time or twelve before the delivery was 100 % unique . if lord of the flies and the walking dead had a baby you might end up with something along the lines of this is not a test . if you like your zombies with a lot of gore and a high body count you should probably look elsewhere . on the other hand , if you’re looking for a “zombie” book that deals more with questions of mortality and morality , this is the book for you . summers is quickly becoming a ya fave .

buffy has been accused of being violent following her calling as a slayer . buffy denied that she was but when questioning xander of this , he said " the important thing is , you believe that . " [ 154 ] faith had also once harshly mentioned to her that buffy was " all about control . " [ 55 ] she was also somewhat short - tempered in nature , as it never took very much to irritate her . buffy once described herself as " i am capable of awesome . i’m usually super reliable and conscientious and according to popular report , a little tightly wound . " [ 112 ]

buffy and dawn were then devastated by the death of their mother shortly after . joyce had been experiencing health problems for months , and only recently received surgery for a brain tumor when she died unexpectedly from an aneurysm . [ 67 ] in order to fully take up her role as dawn’s legal guardian , buffy was forced to drop out of college , though she faced difficulties as a result of dawn’s increasingly rebellious behavior . [ 68 ]

as she grew up , she came to idolize olympic ice skater dorothy hamill , and practiced the sport herself . [ 14 ] her father took her for trick - or - treating until she was twelve . [ 15 ]

currently there is also ' ' please remain calm ' ' which is marked as ' ' this is not a test 1 . 5 ' ' and only has 96 pages . it is the continuity of book one , …more

i think it was interesting to read about a zombie apocalypse through the eyes of someone who wants to die . this book is written so beautifully and at times it made me want to cry . i love how each of the five teenagers all had their own stories and their own things to contribute to the story . i liked the brother and sister relationship between grace and trace , and seeing how that affected their decisions . i also absolutely adore rhys , and i totally ship him and sloane so hard . they had some really cute scenes in this book that made me smile .

buffy was aided in the battle against hus by angel , who had returned to sunnydale without her knowledge . when xander accidentally revealed that angel had reappeared , buffy immediately traveled to los angeles to confront him as she was hurt that he had spoken to everyone but her . buffy and angel agreed to remain apart ; just as she was about to leave , they were attacked by a mohra demon . they tracked the demon down into the sewers and succeeded in wounding it before it escaped . the demon’s blood had mixed with angel’s during the confrontation , causing him to become human again . buffy and angel reveled in finally being able to be together , but angel soon discovered that the powers that be had not yet offered him redemption . when angel was almost killed by the regenerated mohra demon , buffy managed to slay it . after angel discovered that buffy would die much sooner if he remained human , angel had the the oracles rewind time to reverse his transformation into a human . buffy was left with no memory of the incident . [ 50 ]

buffy briefly joined forces with the initiative , but her relentless questioning of the organization’s motives , as well as her relationship with riley , began to unsettle professor maggie walsh , who tried to have her killed in action . [ 52 ] walsh was subsequently murdered by a creature of her own creation , the monstrous half - human / half - demon cyborg , adam , who then escaped and began his plan to create an army of super soldiers like him . [ 53 ]

this story has a lot going on for how short it is , but it never feels cluttered . we know that sloane was abandoned by her sister , lily , but the details of what was supposed to happen and how that has affected her come out slowly throughout the book . the main focus of this book is each person ' s will to live . lily was all sloane had left so once she left her she has none . sloane wants desperately to just die . i thought the author wrote this very well . we can feel sloane ' s desperation and hopelessness , but she never seems emo .

set in a sleepy southern louisiana town in 1959 , a lawyer , searches for justice as he volunteers to help a black woman whose property is being threatened by the holts , the first family of the town , after she refuses to sell her valuable land . nobody thinks willie can win the case , but behind its polite facade , the town is waiting to explode , as willie enlists the aid of eccentric hannah loftin and her niece , whitsey , relatives of the holts .

buffy and the others went to santa rosita to deal with the last zompires , and was assisted by vicki and a group of a new breed of vampires , discovering the consequence from the return of magic . as soon as the zompires were extinguished , the vampires turned against the slayer . the scooby gang then counted on the sudden assistance of deepscan , with kennedy , faith , leah , holly , and giles , who revealed himself resurrected in an emotional reunion . [ 134 ]

there comes a time in everyone ' s life when we finally " wake up " and figure out that we don ' t need to be a product of our screwed up past . for some , it takes months , for other ' s it takes years ( i should know ) . if you don ' t come to this realization , there are consequences . . . for some drugs , for others . . suicide , or other forms of escape . sloane wants to die . not because of the zombies . before there were zombies , there was a scarier monster in sloane ' s life . she was being abused by her dad , and was abandoned by her sister . sloane lives through the initial zombie attack but still wants to die . this story is about sloane , and the journey she takes , and the decisions she makes . she has the perfect weapon to kill herself , just walk outside and she ' ll be bitten . so why doesn ' t she do it ? or does she ? some people don ' t ever wake up , maybe this is sloane and maybe not . very emotional read for me , maybe because i can relate but i think even without it being personal to me , it was a great story .

to give summers credit , this is one of the more remarkable first - person stories i ' ve read in awhile . traumatized for years , forced into a controlled shell of a person by her survival strategies , sloan is conflicted between acknowledging her emotions and staying safe in her fatalistic landscape . and what an idea - - take a zombie / apocalypse story with a narrator who doesn ' t want to survive , but has just enough conscientiousness that she doesn ' t want to pull anyone into her death with her .

buffy’s individualistic and rebellious tendencies culminated into developing an extreme distaste of being manipulated and " losing control " , [ 148 ] particularly when it revolved around her life . this was made most apparent in her initial request to have the monks erase her false memories of dawn , [ 62 ] her forced destiny as the slayer , her brief loss of her abilities through giles’ betrayal , [ 40 ] her rejection of twilight , [ 149 ] anger over angel ’s decision to keep his presence hidden while in sunnydale , [ 49 ] as well as deciding to turn himself into a vampire again without her knowledge . [ 50 ] kendra , who had been trained as a slayer from early childhood , told buffy that a slayer did not have the luxury of emotions . buffy responded that her emotions gave her power and she considered them " total assets " . [ 30 ] spike once stated that buffy’s improvisational fighting style was much like that of nikki wood , the second slayer he killed . [ 150 ]

were originally in the running for the role of buffy in 1996 . holmes was joss’s first choice for buffy but she was turned down as she was deemed too young for the role . many others who auditioned for buffy instead got other roles , including

as the senior prom was closing in , buffy expressed excitement in having her prefect high school experience with angel as her date . however , realizing he could never give her a normal life , angel broke up with buffy the day before . despite being extremely saddened , buffy still made it her duty that she and her friends enjoy themselves at the event . she went forth and killed a group of mind - controlled hellhounds released by a dateless nerd before attending prom dressed in formal wear . to her surprise , she was presented with an award , acknowledging the countless times she saved the student body . just as it couldn’t get better , angel arrived in a tuxedo , not wanting to take her back but give her the slow dance she desired . [ 43 ]

after the explosive events of her high school graduation , buffy experienced difficulties adjusting to life as a college freshman at u . c . sunnydale . she was injured during an encounter with a group of on - campus vampires , [ 46 ] and came off as unstable to her friends when she suspected her overly compulsive roommate to be demon ( which she was eventually proven correct in her assumption ) and she began rooming with willow after kathy’s departure . [ 47 ] her troubles were only worsened by angel ’s recent departure . she sought comfort with fellow student parker abrams , and slept with him only a few weeks after meeting him . he then brushed her off as a one - night stand despite making her believe that this was the start of a new relationship .

) because that ' s the reason i have read this one . i loved it with all my heart and i never read a book like this one . it is sad and heartbreaking but mesmerizing and captivating as well . i recommend this a lot !

" now is not about gathering courage , it ' s about staying one step ahead of my fear . " oh my goodness gracious ! what did i just read ? ? ? i have this basic concept about how any story that has to do with zombies is old and funny . sorry i don’t watch walking dead . but i am now completely eradicating that concept from my mind because of this dark but masterfully written prose . this is my first courtney summers read and i am instantly and immediately captivated by the unique writing style via her use of

i get the hype . this is not a test reminded me of lord of the flies meets the walking dead - - the first season when you ' re actually cheering for the humans and not the zombies - - with a dash of the breakfast club . not only was this my first courtney summers book , this was also my first zombie book . verdict ? i ' d like more of both please . sloane , a physically and emotionally abused girl , finds herself barricaded inside her high school along with five other students . while they know each other , they

“you should use it , ” my roommate tells me . she’s an astute , outspoken woman in her early 30s who works as a journalist for one of mexico’s most well - known liberal magazines . “it’s meant to get rid of or prevent infections , ” she said .

currently there is also ' ' please remain calm ' ' which is marked as ' ' this is not a test 1 . 5 ' ' and only has 96 pages . it is the continuity of book one , but from rhys ' perspective this time . ( less )

upon learning that if she were to continue being invisible her molecule structure would break down , buffy sought to stop the trio and made herself visible , not wanting to die despite her current grime state of life . the trio’s scheme’s finally reached breaking point when their leader , warren mears , accidentally killed his ex - girlfriend katrina after a mystical date - rape attempt . with the use of jonathan levinson ’s magicks and andrew wells ’s demon summoning , he manipulated events to make buffy think she killed katrina . convinced , buffy was ready to confess to the police , although this was thwarted when spike dumped the body to save her . in an encounter of grief and denial in her relationship with spike , buffy beat him severely . luckily for her , buffy discovered that she wasn’t actually the perpetrator of the crime and the death was ruled as a suicide ; nonetheless , buffy realized that the trio were becoming too dangerous for her to ignore and resolved to bring them to justice . [ 75 ]

in the ensuing fight , severin told buffy that he had to kill all those vampires because buffy destroyed the seed and that she didn’t deserve her power . eventually , severin overpowered buffy and began to drain her powers , as well as spike’s when he arrived to help her , but just before he could drain the two completely , detective dowling , having been anonymously tipped off , arrived and made the save by shooting severin four times in the chest . having discovered that severin was the real culprit , buffy was subsequently cleared of all charges . [ 115 ]

it only took me a few pages to remember how much i love summers ' unique style of writing : punchy , direct , achey , intense . minimal words conveying maximum impact . it took me only one chapter to be hooked . by the end of chapter one , i needed to read chapter two . by the end of chapter two , i needed to read chapter three . by the end of … and so on . this is not a test is compulsively readable . tightly plotted . intense . addictive . the drama in the pages never seems melodramatic , in spite of the premise .

mystical protection — after becoming leader to the activated slayers , xander commented that buffy had some degree of mystical protection over her now , at least while she slept . to that end , her protection meant even daggers split apart so as not to pierce her skin . [ 191 ]

though she was normally quite aware socially , buffy had proven to have a few lapses in judgment that cost her and others as well . her destructive relationship with spike , for example , was attributed to her own feelings of vulnerability , self - loathing , and unworthiness after the death of her mother as well as her abrupt descent from heaven . despite her powerful sense of responsibility , when in a state of depression or ill humor , she had been shown to procrastinate and put off or otherwise ignore things she should be dealing with . this was most prominently seen in her exile out of heaven , ignoring her role as guardian of dawn and forcing giles to both take care of her [ 158 ] and pay the bills she couldn’t afford . [ 159 ] another example was when she had smashed the seed of wonder and remained indifferent over willow’s pleas of returning magic , hardly thinking of the consequences of the action because she did what she had to do ; in this case , she was finally forced to face the negative consequences of the seed’s destruction when she discovered that without magic , dawn was fading away . [ 160 ]

there are ' breakfast club ' moments where the teens bond as they linger in the school , hoping for rescue , but the infighting is wearing them down . one of the underlying themes is the loss of family , their coping , and whether or not the survivors create their own .

i honestly don ' t know what to review . thank to may , i ' m officially courtney summers trash . this book is not about zombies , why they mutated , finding a cure , or having some badass fighting scenes with them . it just has zombies in them . this book is about survival , difficult decisions , loss and heartbreak . this is the second book i ' ve read by courtney summers and i wasn ' t dissapointed . her first book i read was a realisitic contemporary about rape and bullying and this book is totally different from that . whenever i think of reading some zombie novel , i ' m always like " oh there ' s going to be some fucking zombies , people are going to fight them and they will survive ! yay , " but this book was nothing like that . i was able to feel emotion while reading this . i was able to feel the panic . i was able to feel their loss . i was able to feel their fear . i was able to feel their need to make it out alive . i was able to feel what they felt . and that says a lot because i ' m a heartless bitch . take all the goddamn stars .

4 1 / 2 stars because i’m a fancy creative post writer , i thought i’d start this off with a quote from someone whose opinion i really trust : “ can you imagine what she ' s going to do with zombie survival ? ! ! i bet it ' s going to be gruesome . : d ” you know what ? i really do love the sound of my own voice . you are so , so right , me of approximately five months ago . of course , this is courtney summers so the “gruesome” part of this book doesn’t arrive with the zombie apocalypse ; it takes place within the grasp

4 . 5 i owe a huge thanks to courtney summers for giving me a second chance to read and review this after my netgalley rejection . it made my day and i ' m so glad this is not a test was all that i ' d hoped it would be . i ' m going to say what i said at the start of my reviews or before i started reading : feed , the forest of hands and teeth , the other life and even the one i was sure would be the exception to the rule - the reapers are the angels , and that is that zombie novels have never been my thing .

that ' s the best description of sloane . but while grace admires her ( as noted in the quote above ) , sloane admires grace , harrison admires trace and it goes on and on . they are just trying to survive the best way they can . they are in a supposedly safe place

buffy’s parents , who had been experiencing marital troubles for years , finally divorced , and buffy moved with her mother to 1630 revello drive in sunnydale , a small town in california . little did they know that the town was located on a hellmouth , and that buffy’s presence there was predestined . buffy enrolled at sunnydale high where she became friends with xander harris and willow rosenberg as well as meeting her new watcher , rupert giles . she also met cordelia chase , a superficial cheerleader reminiscent of buffy before she became the slayer , and angel , a mysterious and handsome stranger who aided buffy with cryptic advice . [ 22 ] buffy at first rejected her slayer duties in favor of a normal life , but was forced into action to stop the vampire ritual known as the harvest by the order of aurelius , a vampire cult under the rule of ancient and power vampire the master , who was trapped underground in sunnydale .

buffy gradually developed an attraction to angel , and was horrified when she came to realize that he was a vampire . though initially reluctant to slay him , she ultimately decided to do so when it appeared that angel had attacked her mother . she relented upon discovering that he had a human soul as a result of being cursed by a gypsy clan as punishment for his vicious crimes . additionally , she found out that angel had in fact been set up by the vampire darla of the order of aurelius , angel’s sire and joyce’s true attacker , who was staked by angel in the ensuing confrontation . [ 25 ]

what an outstanding . . . . odd book . to be honest , i ' m not even sure how to rate it . on the one hand , i just want to praise it , recommend it , tell you it ' s amazing and give it 5 stars . on the other hand , the aspect i didn ' t like is so macroscopic that i can ' t give it what it theoretically deserves . this is the first book by courtney summers that i have read but rest assured i will soon get my hands on her other ones - one i actually already own , cracked up to be . there ' s something really powerful in

if i could give this book more than 5 stars , i would . when my brother asked me what i did today , i told him i started this amazing book at 4 p . m and finished it 10 minutes ago and that today was a perfect day . i feel as happy reading a book all day as i am happy staying all afternoon with a dear friend . i could tell you 11 / 02 was a normal day , that i went to college , talked to friends , drank coffee , studied a little , played just dance and slept . but what i will remember of today is this wonderfu

returning to san francisco , the scoobies discovered the new magic of this world was still undefined , with buffy’s allies learning that they could write new rules for magic in the vampyr book , such as preventing the vampires from using their new powers in daylight , or clem making unicorns real for harmony . [ 135 ]

buffy returned home , only to discover that xander and dawn were at the hospital . arriving there , illyria noted that mystical energy was leaving dawn’s body , continuing on to explain that mystical energy was used to hold the body together and without it , she would die . later at andrew’s , xander admitted he blamed buffy for this . she explained that she had to destroy the seed , but then he blamed her for sleeping with angel and creating all of this . despite her attempts to explain , xander didn’t listen . guilty and miserable , buffy insisted that dawn was still her sister and she would do anything she could to help her . [ 128 ] willow then reappeared in san francisco , and , for much of her relief , buffy realized that the witch had managed to regain her magic . [ 110 ]

“i use it because i’m afraid of getting an infection or some kind of disease , because i’m dating a few different people right now , ” says daniela . two friends told me they use it just because they like the “clean feeling . ” which made me curious as to what , exactly , that feeling was .

when someone sees a zombie book there are two reactions : 1 ) oh zombies , scary and gory ! awesomesauce ! or 2 ) ewww zombies ! icky ! - pass . so this is a warning : as far as zombie books go , this is not a test has to be one of the tamest . it ' s not gory , nor is it an adrenaline filled story . yes there are zombies and it can get intense at times , but funnily enough , it is not about the zombies . it ' s about a girl who doesn ' t want to live in this world anymore . she can ' t keep going with a dad that beats h