| Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief | |
| Director: | Craig Shapiro |
| Producer: | John Davis Brian Manis |
| Screenplay: | Matt Lieberman Kathleen Laccinole |
| Story: | Matt Lieberman |
| Based On: | The stories of Hugh Lofting |
| Music: | Don Macdonald |
| Cinematography: | Ron Stannett |
| Editing: | Michael Trent |
| Studio: | Davis Entertainment |
| Distributor: | 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment |
| Runtime: | 85 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief (also known as Dr. Dolittle 4) is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Craig Shapiro and starring Kyla Pratt and Norm Macdonald. It is the fourth film in the Dr. Dolittle series.
Like its predecessor, Dr. Dolittle 3 in 2006, it was released direct to DVD as well, on March 4, 2008. It is also the second film in the series not to feature Eddie Murphy as Doctor Dolittle, or Raven-Symoné as Charisse Dolittle, although Doctor Dolittle was mentioned in the film. The role of Lisa Dolittle, originally played by Kristen Wilson, is now played by Karen Holness.
Maya Dolittle is the girl who can talk to animals; so can her older sister Charisse Dolittle and father John Dolittle. John is away on animal expeditions while Charisse is in college. When the President asks for him to help with the Presidential dog and save an African forest, Maya takes her father's place. The dog Daisy has a very hot temper but after a lot of trouble, they begin to get along.
At a dinner with the prince and princess of the kingdom that the forest is located in, things are going well until they suddenly take a turn for the worse. With the help of animals, Maya finds out Chief Dorian was sabotaging the prince to shut down the forest and make millions. He is arrested and the forest is saved.
The film's visual effects were supervised by the former head of Industrial Light & Magic's animation department, Wes Takahashi.[2] The estimated budget for this film is about $6,000,000.[3]
Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief was released on DVD on March 4, 2008. It placed 15th for copies sold that week and was priced for $26.98.[4]
Film critic Kevin Carr gave the film a two and a half stars out of 5.[5] Common Sense Media awarded it with three out of five stars.[6] Sloan Freer of Radio Times gave it 2 out of 5 and called it "a sporadically amusing mix of gunge-heavy slapstick, mild adolescent angst and the usual simplistic life lessons".[7]