What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this Eddie Murphy vehicle lifts the name and basic concept from Hugh Lofting's famous stories about a man who can "talk to the animals." An enormous amount of sophmoric humor involving the good doctor's animal patients is added to the mix -- cute but wearying for adults. Because many of the jokes include toilet humor and crude references to the human body, parents may want to decide whether or not they feel comfortable with this type of content for children younger than 5, though those children will certainly be charmed by the animal characters. Children above 5 will enjoy the jokes, but parents may still wish to exercise discretion, due to the nature of the humor.
- Families can talk about the adult themes depicted in this movie, such as insanity, death and greed. Families can also talk about what they think it would be like to be able to talk to animals. Do you think that would be fun?