Things Only Adults Noticed In Dolittle

In Dolittle, Robert Downey Jr.'s first movie since his big Marvel Cinematic Universe sendoff, the former Iron Man follows in the footsteps of actors Rex Harrison and Eddie Murphy as an eccentric physician who also talks to animals, but don't be fooled. This isn't your parents' Dr. Dolittle.

In the latest adaptation of Hugh Lofting's beloved children's novels, the good doctor and his zoo crew head on a world-spanning journey to find the Eden Tree, which produces the only known cure for the illness afflicting the Queen of England. Plenty of fart gags, pop culture nods, and other mature jokes and references cross their paths along the way.

While there's absolutely no doubt that Dolittle is for children — very little ones — a surprising amount of the movie's material is going to go right over its target audience's heads. Thankfully, you don't have to brave a theater full of cackling kids to find out what. We've got more or less everything Dolittle has to offer adults listed right here.

Dolittle isn't the only kids' movie with a stacked cast. These days, if there's a feature film with voice roles, you're pretty much assured that they'll be filled with A-list stars. Still, even by those standards Dolittle has a lot of vocal cameos — the doctor's menagerie is huge — and some of the casting choices feel a little odd.

Tom Holland as Dolittle's scholarly dog, Jip? Yeah, okay. Holland and Downey Jr. have history together, and Spider-Man is popular with the little ones. John Cena as Yoshi, the group's resident polar bear? That makes sense. But the further down the list you go, the weirder it gets. Do kids really care about The League's Jason Mantzoukas? Will they even recognize The Office and Dolemite Is My Name's Craig Robinson? How many toddlers have even seen A Very Long Engagement, Two Days, One Night, and Inception? Good, then all two of them will be thrilled to hear Marion Cotillard's voice.

Those are all fine actors, but they're very big names for such small roles (Cotillard has maybe three lines in the whole film). They're there for the parents, not the kids. As long as the animals are telling jokes, kids aren't going to care who they sound like.

Early in the film, Dolittle reluctantly leaves the confines of his cozy, cluttered home to venture into the real world. The cause? The Queen of England is deathly ill, and Doctor Dolittle is her very last hope. He hops on the back of his trusty ostrich, Plimpton, and escorts his comrades to Buckingham Palace, where the sickly royal waits.

At least it's supposed to be Buckingham Palace, but it's very clearly not. Now, we don't expect the royal family to open its doors to Universal Pictures. However, the location that production chose as its makeshift Buckingham looks so unlike the real thing that it pulls any Anglophiles in the audience right out of the movie. It's not even close.

The film's timeline is also a little strange, although you'll need to have gotten a little further than your fifth grade history class to notice it. Queen Victoria assumed the throne when she was only 18, and in Dolittle, it's still pretty early in her career. Her treasonous advisor Lord Thomas Badgley calls her a "child queen." Her young age is the whole reason he wants Victoria out of power. And yet somehow, Victoria also gave Dolittle his massive estate years and years ago, well before Lily disappeared and Dolittle became a hermit. The numbers just don't add up — although honestly, that's the least of Dolittle's problems.

Every single member of Dolittle's team of misfit animals is dysfunctional in some way, but don't blame them. They come by it honestly. In one of Dolittle's oddest recurring gags, almost every animal in the cast has some form of trauma related to their parents, and it's messed them all up big time.

It's a weird joke, but it does lead to some of the film's funniest lines, including a few that kids won't get. Plimpton the ostrich's parents told him he "should've been an omelette." Barry, the tiger voiced by Ralph Fiennes, has a whole host of issues stemming from his mother's disapproval. No one he eats will ever be good enough for her, he laments, settling down in Dolittle's lap for some psychiatric help. Still, as Barry observes a little later, every parent wants to see their child eat a doctor.

The best — and most mature — joke in the bunch, though, comes from John Cena's Yoshi, a polar bear. As it turns out, Yoshi grew up in a single-family home. His father "went out for a pack of seals" one day and never came home. It's a dark joke, but a good one. Just forget that a group of seals is called a "pod" or a "herd," not a pack. It'll be fine.

Trying to identify Robert Downey Jr.'s accent in Dolittle? You're not alone. Despite the actor's best efforts, Dolittle's accent is all over the place. Not even the venerated New York Times can figure out what it is.

Adults with very well-trained ears — and a little bit of creativity — might be able to recognize Dolittle's accent as Welsh. At least, that's what Downey was going for. Apparently, while researching the role, Downey came across the story of a 19th century Welsh doctor named William Price, an eccentric man who proclaimed himself a druid and warned others about the dangers of eating meat, marriage, and vaccinations.

Downey decided to base his version of Dolittle on Price, at least in part, Welsh accent included. Of course, there's a reason why you don't hear Welsh accents in movies very often: it's notoriously difficult to do. While Downey promised that "for the running time of the movie, [the accent] will be able to stand up to scrutiny," critics don't seem to agree. Still, that's not just Downey making a silly voice. He's speaking with a real accent — or trying to, at any rate.