Dr. Dolittle and His Animals: A weirdly charming paper-cut adventure

If you have about an hour and want to see something that feels like a dream someone had in 1928, you should probably watch this. It’s definitely for people who like weird art or maybe just parents who want to show their kids something that isn't screaming at them in neon colors.

If you absolutely need 4K resolution and explosions like in Avatar, you are going to hate this with a passion. It’s literally just black shapes moving on a gray background.

Lotte Reiniger made this, and she must have had the most steady hands in history. I can't even cut a straight line with scissors, and she’s out here making individual eyelashes for a paper monkey.

The whole thing starts with Dr. Dolittle in his house, and it’s just packed with animals. You’ve got Jip the dog, Dab-Dab the duck, and a pig named Gub-Gub who seems very worried most of the time.

The way they move is so jerky but also fluid? It’s hard to explain. It’s like the characters are vibrating with life because they are being moved frame by frame.

There’s a scene where the doctor is just sitting there, and you can see the tiniest movement of his top hat. It’s those little details that make you realize a human actually touched every second of this film.

Anyway, the plot kicks in when a swallow flies in to tell him that the monkeys in Africa are all getting sick. The doctor doesn't even hesitate, he just grabs his bag and heads for a ship.

The ship scenes are actually pretty cool because you can see the waves, and they look like layers of translucent paper overlapping. It gives the ocean a weirdly deep feeling even though everything is flat.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Dr. Dolittle and His Animals (1928) through its definitive frames.

I noticed one part where the boat wobbles, and it feels more like a real boat than some of the big-budget stuff I've seen lately. Maybe because you know the boat is a real object sitting on a table somewhere.

When they get to Africa, the movie gets even more imaginative. The jungle is just a bunch of jagged paper edges, but it looks dangerous.

The monkeys are the stars here, obviously. They hang off everything like little black commas with tails.

There is this one moment where the monkeys form a bridge across a giant cliff. They all grab each other's tails and legs to let the doctor walk across.

I had to rewind that bit just to see how they animated the weight of the doctor stepping on them. The whole bridge of monkeys sags just a little bit, and it’s brilliant.

I think I liked this more than The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu which felt way more stiff and dated in its acting. Here, since there are no faces, the silhouettes have to do all the acting with their poses.

You can tell exactly when the doctor is tired just by the way his paper shoulders slump. It’s a very honest way of storytelling.

Then there’s the Pushmi-pullyu. It’s that llama-looking thing with a head on both ends of its body.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Dr. Dolittle and His Animals (1928) through its definitive frames.

Watching it try to walk is honestly the funniest thing in the movie. One head wants to go left, the other wants to go right, and the middle just kind of stretches.

The film is split into these little chapters, which makes it feel like you're reading a picture book. I think I drifted off for a second during the second act, but it was a nice, peaceful drift.

Sometimes the background flickers a bit. I’m not sure if that’s just the old film stock or if the lights in the studio were acting up back in the twenties.

It adds to the charm, though. It reminds you that you're watching a relic.

Compared to something like The Legion of Death, which is from around the same era, this feels much more alive. Animation lets you do things that live-action cameras just couldn't handle back then.

I did find the lack of music in the version I watched a bit jarring at first. You just hear the whirring of your own brain trying to fill in the sounds of the jungle.

The doctor himself is a bit of a blank slate, but that’s okay. He’s just there to facilitate the animals being awesome.

I especially liked the scene with the lions. They look so regal but also like something you’d find in a child's scrapbook.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Dr. Dolittle and His Animals (1928) through its definitive frames.

The movie doesn't overstay its welcome. It gets the job done and then it's over.

I’ve seen some boring old movies like All Wrong, and this is definitely not one of those. It keeps your eyes busy even if the story is simple as a pancake.

One thing that bugged me was the pacing near the end. It feels like they ran out of paper or time and just rushed the monkeys getting better.

One second they are all coughing and sad, and the next they are throwing a party. But hey, it's a fairy tale, so I guess I can let it slide.

The cutouts of the palm trees are really intricate. I kept trying to see if I could spot any jagged edges from the scissors, but Reiniger was too good for that.

I wonder if people back then realized how cool this was. Or if they just thought it was a weird cartoon for kids.

I’m glad I watched it on a rainy afternoon. It’s the perfect kind of movie for when you want to turn off the modern world for a bit.

It’s not a masterpiece that will change your life, but it’s a lovely piece of history. And honestly, paper monkeys are just fun to look at.

If you can find a version with a good piano score, definitely go with that. Otherwise, just put on some lo-fi beats or something and enjoy the shadows.

It makes you appreciate how much work went into things before computers did everything for us. Definitely worth a look if you’re tired of the same old thing.