Robert Downey Jr. reveals stellar cast of the Doctor Dolittle remake

Robert Downey Jr. is starring in the 2019 adaptation of Dr Dolittle alongside a star-studded cast to voice his animal menagerie.

Robert Downey Jr. has just announced the all-star voice cast of his upcoming movie The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle. The film is based on the story collections of author Hugh Lofting, who created a unique animal world set in the Victorian era. The Universal Pictures movie is set to be released on Friday, May 24, 2019.

Naturally, there are a lot of animal characters to be had in the movie.

Check out the cast below from his tweet:

Emma Thompson stars as the parrot Polynesia, and Selena Gomez will play the giraffe Betsy. A plethora of other big names are joining in on the capers including Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Holland, Marion Cotillard, Octavia Spencer, Kumail Nanjiani, Rami Malek, John Cena, Carmen Ejogo and Frances De La Tour.

The original 1967 film Doctor Dolittle starred Rex Harrison as the animal communicating veterinarian, who leads an adventure with his furry and feathered friends in search of a giant pink sea snail. It introduces many exotic creatures including a Pushme-Pullyu, which looks quite similar to a llama with a head on either end of its body. The movie’s catchy song “If I Could Talk To The Animals” won the 1968 Oscar for Best Original Song. Eddie Murphy played a more contemporary version of Doctor Dolittle in 1998 and again in Doctor Dolittle 2 in 2001.

Downey Jr.’s version is anticipated to be a primarily live-action film. Though with the construction of quirky creatures, we can expect the integration of significant animation and CGI. Universal Picture’s Doctor Dolittle is shaping up to be a family blockbuster to rival the best of what Disney has to offer.

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We can’t wait for Iron Man to swap his metal mask for a top hat and burst into song.

Wait … can Robert Downey Jr. actually sing?