This is a list of characters from the Doctor Dolittle series of children's books by Hugh Lofting.
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Doctor John Dolittle, M.D. is a doctor who became a doctor for animals when his parrot, Polynesia taught him to speak the language of animals. He lived in the fictional town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh (commonly referred to as Puddleby) with his many animals. He has very few human friends and spends most of his time treating animals, travelling the world with his animals and conducting research into new animals and new forms of animal languages.[1]
He is portrayed by Rex Harrison in the 1967 film Doctor Dolittle, and later by Eddie Murphy in the first two entrys of the remake series of the film which were released in 1998 and 2001 respectively.
Tommy Stubbins is a boy from Puddleby who, after taking an injured squirrel to Doctor Dolittle, becomes the doctor's friend and assistant. He first appears in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle and acts as the narrator in all the books.[2]
Matthew Mugg is the Cat's-meat-man from Puddleby. He is a friend of Doctor Dolittle and helps to take care of the doctor's house and garden when the doctor is away traveling.
Prince Bumpo is an African prince from the kingdom of Jolliginki, who has been sent to study at Oxford University by his father, and become a friend of the Doctor's. Bumpo is recognisable by his green umbrella and bare feet - not used to wearing shoes, he usually discards them. Bumpo has been the subject of heavy Bowdlerisation in recent years[3]
Polynesia is Doctor Dolittle's parrot, an African Grey. She is able to speak English and first taught Doctor Dolittle the language of animals. She always says she can never remember how old she is, but she remembers that when she came to England, she saw Charles I hiding in an oak tree from the Roundheads: "he looked very frightened".
Gub-Gub is Doctor Dolittle's pig. He is a great lover of food. Gub-Gub's Book, An Encyclopaedia of Food is written as if it was written by Gub-Gub.
Jip is Doctor Dolittle's dog. He has a very strong sense of smell. In The Story of Doctor Dolittle, he was able to rescue a man stranded on an island by following the man's scent.[1]
Chee-Chee is a monkey. In The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Chee-Chee was once the property of an organ-grinder but soon lived with the doctor.
Dab-Dab is Doctor Dolittle's duck. After the doctor's sister, Sarah Dolittle, leaves the house in Puddleby due to her dislike of alligators, Dab-Dab becomes the doctor's housekeeper.
Too-Too is the doctor's owl. He acts as the Doctor's accountant, and can tell the Doctor immediately how much money he has in the money box
The pushmi-pullyu (pronounced "push-me—pull-you") is a "gazelle-unicorn cross" which has two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. When it tries to move, both heads try to go in opposite directions. Dr. Dolittle meets it on his voyage to Africa to save monkeys (See: The Story of Doctor Dolittle). In the 1967 film, the pushmi-pullyu was instead portrayed as a double-headed llama. The Eddie Murphy film has a brief scene where it is walking in the background while Dr. Dolittle talks to the tiger in the cage. This is in keeping with the fact that Murphy's movie version was only loosely based on the books.[4]