Doctor Dolittle
Giants, fairies, magicians, ghosts, dragons, and monsters of all kinds… Here’s what your Cinémathèque has in store this summer! Since Méliès, filmmakers have embraced the fanstastic potential of cinema, creating infinite phantasmagorias and extraordinary spectacles where the unreal becomes real. Step into a world of fantasy and boundless imagination: whatever your generation, the monsters and wonders that once filled your childhood dreams are back this summer 2025!
Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Song and Best Special Visual Effects in 1968
Dr. Dolittle has a very special ability: he understands the language of animals and his house is a hospital for creatures of all kinds. One day, he embarks on a worldwide expedition in search of the legendary sea snail. Directed by Richard Fleischer, this musical - anti-speciesist before its time! - is as crazy as it is extravagant, combining Épinal prints and improbable visions, with a wonderful sense of wonder and adventure.
Richard Fleischer
Richard Fleischer was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though he directed films across many genres and styles, he is best known for his big-budget, "tentpole" films, including: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), The Vikings (1958), Barabbas (1961), Fantastic Voyage (1966), the musical film Doctor Dolittle (1967), the war epic Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), the dystopian mystery-thriller Soylent Green (1973), the controversial period drama Mandingo (1975), and the Robert E. Howard sword-and-sorcery films Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Red Sonja (1985). Fleischer worked with many of the top Hollywood stars of his time, including Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, Tony Curtis, Mia Farrow, Charlton Heston, and Lee Marvin. He was noted for his versatility, able to work in almost any genre under wildly varying conditions and budgets, making him a popular and prolific choice for producers. Many of his films proved very successful, being some of the highest-grossing features of their respective release years.
