Inside sources suggest Robert Downey Jr. came up with Dolittle's dragon enema climax
Aux Features Film
[Note: This article contains spoilers for the part of Dolittle where a dragon farts on Robert Downey Jr.]
As the first major film project, post-Tony Stark, taken on by a now fully culturally redeemed Robert Downey Jr., Universal’s Dolittle was always going to be subject to massive, potentially unsupportable amounts of public scrutiny. But it’s likely that the film wouldn’t have fared especially well even without the weight of expectations pressing down on its fractured and tonally confused back; there’s a reason that the studio decided to dump the movie in the January death slot, where it’s become the first certified big-budget bomb of the year. Downey’s would-be star vehicle can’t even lay claim to the ridiculous splendor that’s likely to turn something like Tom Hooper’s Cats into an eventual cult favorite. Per numerous reviews, Dolittle is just a dull, confusing, and surprisingly soulless effort from the man who proved that Iron Man had a human heart.
THR ran an interesting post-mortem on the film today, though, attempting to figure out what, exactly, went wrong. The resulting story is one of camaraderie, friendship, confidence, and, apparently, a whole bunch of people shrugging and saying “I don’t know, it’ll probably turn out good.” Among other things, the article tracks the frankly boggling procession of directors and advisers brought in to “fix” director Stephen Gaghan’s film after principal photography concluded: Seth Rogen, his Neighbors writer Brendan O’Brien, Lego Batman director Chris McKay, and, finally, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) director Jonathan Liebesman were all consulted for reshoots, all with an apparent idea of turning the movie—originally much more dour, and focused on the death of the good doctor’s wife—into a more traditional family comedy. Which is, presumably, how we get to the dragon farts.
For those who haven’t seen it: The major dramatic climax of Dolittle rests on Robert Downey Jr.’s ability to convince you that he’s pulling a pair of bagpipes out of a constipated dragon’s ass—a scenario that also involves him pretending to be farted on by aforementioned dragon, of course. The really shocking part, though, is that this exercise in sub-Minions buffoonery was apparently suggested by the actor himself; although some sources in the THR article discount it, multiple others contend that the whole dragon colonoscopy/enema idea came straight out of Downey’s brain. (The accompanying “He and his reps declined to comment for this story” feels even more pointed than usual, here.)
By all accounts, though, it was at least a pretty fun shoot: Downey was reportedly up for any measure of improvisation, up to and including, well, the obvious. “You can throw so many ideas at him and have the feeling he’ll try anything and everything,” one source reported. “He’ll give you feedback. And he’ll have some ideas of his own.” Still, though, another cautioned: “When Iron Man tells you something, you listen to Iron Man.” Which does actually raise a lot of question about how the conclusion of the Avengers saga might have alternatively played out…
23 Comments
I mean, if you’re gonna be pulling something out of a dragon’s ass at least go all the way with it: Dolittle yanks a maiden out of the dragon’s ass and then marries her.
There’s a joke to be made about how this movie was a turd inside Universal’s asshole that RDJ attempted to wade in and fish out, but I am too high to figure out how to make it. What kid wants to see a Dr. Dolittle movie in 2020? With Iron Man in it, no less?‘Mommy, why is Iron Man not acting like Iron Man?’‘Fuck if I know, honey.’
dragon enema climax
In my head-canon, this is how that last dragon in Game of Thrones gets a happy ending.
Oh 2020… you’re gonna be a weird one, aren’t ya.
And I, for one, welcome our new weird overlords. We’ve needed this kind of batshit-insane, not the angry/sad we’ve gotten the last 5 years
Best band name ever.
“I am Dragon Enema Man.”
Maybe he was behind the ‘Antman-Kills-Thanos-By-Going-Up-His-Butt’ theory too…?
I actually look forward to viewing Cats…at home…for very little money…with a button to make the nightmare stop when it inevitably gets too much. For all it’s horrifying faults, Cats at least looks like it has some passion in it’s hilariously misguided creation. Dolittle by comparison looks like what it is, a studio made nothing movie that presumably started production due to the studio liking talking animals, RDJ being happy to be paid money to goof around and the source material having vague recognition (as well as now being in the public domain)
I just can’t comprehend how or why Stephen Gaghan is involved in this. What was the logic that they would hire a guy who never had a single written word that remotely suggested he’d be suitable for a big budget family movie? What the hell happened to Gaghan’s career that he was so hot after Syriana and then seemed to vanish and emerge with this?It does make me happy to hear Michael Sheen came out unscathed from this. I rewatched some Tron Legacy clips with him, and he really does have the superpowers to make movies far better when he’s on screen.
Cats was absolutely delightful while quite stoned. Would recommend. Do not watch it sober though.
the movie—originally much more dour, and focused on the death of the good doctor’s wifeWell, that explains why the trailer was so relentlessly dour and miserable.It doesn’t explain… literally anything else about this shambles, but we’ve got that narrowed down at least.
It’s remarkable how little Universal cared by the end. Your first trailer is dour and depressing? Cut a new one! They barely show the talking animals or the celebrity voices. Even if I was a studio head with a DOA bomb on my hands, I’d try to cut something that could have at least made some money. I’m presuming their hands were so tightly tied with the Cats fiascos that they couldn’t even bother with Dolittle.
I saw this because I heard it cost $175 million without previz being done ahead of time. It’s ill conceived from start to finish but RDJ himself puts in a horrible performance. He commits to an accent makes everything he says difficult to understand. I feel like he is one Sherlock Holmes 3 bomb away from spoiling his exit to the MCU.
I SEE TREES OF GREENBAGPIPES IN POOI’LL PULL THEM LOOSEFOR ME AND YOUAND I THINK TO MYSELFWHAT A TURD OF A FILM
You put more effort into this comment than they put into the movie
It’s okay to be constipated.
The amount of plugging Cats as some kind of soon-to-be “cult” film on this site really hints at something.At what, I don’t want to know.
Midnight Cats screen sponsored by the A.V. Club. Come and throw cat nip at the screen while we all yell out our favorite “jokes” together while a local cast of aspiring “actors” dance around in front of the screen. “It’s like Rocky Horror but worse” says the Chicago Tribune. The Sun times says “If you seen The Room, this is another one of those I guess”
Is he back on drugs?
Is that Waking Life or Scanner Darkly?
It’s RDj, so the latter.
“Dragon Enema Climax” sounds like a Pornhub title…
It’s a whole category.
Honestly if there were dragons in the trailer I might have seen it