Dr. Dolittle und seine Tiere (1928)
aka The Adventures of Dr. Dolittle
Article 5798 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-24-2020
Directed by Lotte Reiniger
No cast
Country: Germany
What it is: Silhouette whimsical fantasy

Dr. Dolittle must go to Africa to battle a plague that has hit the monkey people. He has adventures along the way.

This Lotte Reiniger short (33 minutes) was cut into three parts when it was released in the United States; I think I may have reviewed two of them as individual entities. However, the short tells a single story, albeit one that could be broken into three chapters. For those unfamiliar with Lotte Reiniger, she was a German animator who specialized in elaborate animated silhouette puppets. This one isn’t her best work, but it works well enough and is fun to watch. She was an excellent animator, and there are touches of whimsy throughout. Like any of her work, it is worth catching.