Dr. Dolittle 3


Dr. Dolittle 3 is a 2006 American family comedy film. It stars Kyla Pratt, the original daughter in the remake series, as Maya.
Starring alongside her are Kristen Wilson as Lisa Dolittle and Norm Macdonald as the voice of Lucky the Dog. This is the third film in the Dr. Dolittle series, and the first film not to feature Eddie Murphy as Doctor Dolittle, or Raven-Symoné as Charisse Dolittle, although they are mentioned in the film.

Plot

Maya has evolved considerably from the first film. Though she was then an antisocial individual more interested in her science projects, Maya has transformed into the typical teenager. Like her sister Charisse, she inherits their father John's capacity for communicating with fauna, her life is turned upside down on all fronts. She routinely lands in trouble with her parents, while her friends think she's gone crazy.
With John away on animal expeditions, Maya's mother Lisa sends her with Lucky following along to a ranch named "Durango", so she can find herself. The ranch is owned by Jud, and his son Bo. While there, Maya, who desperately tried to keep it under wraps so as not to arouse suspicion, uses her talent to "talk to the animals" in order to save Durango from being taken over by a neighboring ranch.
Maya is at first reluctant to reveal her ability, fearing rejection from her friends, but eventually does so. With her help, the Durango ranch enters a rodeo competition with a $50,000 award, and wins it. Also, she shares her first kiss with Bo and finally wins his heart.

Cast

This film was released direct-to-video in 2006; on April 25 for Region 1 and May 1 for Region 2.

Critical reception

Although a relative success in sales, the film was not well received by critics.
Of the three reviews given at Rotten Tomatoes, two were very negative: one critic, Scott Weinberg, said "Cheap-looking, atrociously written, and delivered with all the energy of a breach-birth bovine, Dr. Dolittle 3 is all kinds of terrible." David Cornelius of eFilmCritic.com described the film as "not so much poorly made as it is lazy and cheap." Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media said of film: "Positive messages throughout tween-friendly animal comedy."