Can you believe that Raven-Symoné was only a pre-teen when she first played Charisse in Dr. Dolittle? This Disney Channel star is not a little girl anymore as she’s currently playing Raven in the That’s So Raven spinoff Raven’s Home while still in her ‘30s. While Eddie Murphy believes he and Symoné would be too old to take on Dr. Dolittle 3, she has an answer of her own.
Dr. Dolittle 2 was the last movie to feature both Eddie Murphy and Raven-Symoné with Kyla Pratt, who played John Dolittle’s other daughter Maya, getting bumped up to the lead for three more direct-to-DVD Dr. Dolittle movies. Charisse started the series in a less-prominent role in the first movie playing Dr. Dolittle’s tomboy daughter, only for her role to get bigger in the sequel when it’s discovered she can speak to animals like her father. While speaking to ET, Murphy explains why he didn’t continue his iconic role for more Dr. Dolittle movies after the sequel.
You know, it's funny, when I remember way back when they were trying to put together Dr. Dolittle 3 and the reason I didn't do that [is because] I was like, 'Raven [-Symoné] is a grown woman.' I said, 'I can't have no grown woman calling me Dad. But now we're here, we're really here, and I think it's cool 'cause we still look like ourselves.
You may find his reasoning strange coming from a man who has a lot of grown kids now, but remember he made this claim back in 2001 when the second Dr. Dolittle came out. Back then, he didn’t have any grown kids with his oldest one being 12 years old. So if Eddie Murphy’s Dr. Dolittle ever came back for a third movie after over two decades, I’d like to believe his opinions would change about playing Raven-Symoné’s father again. I can already picture their chemistry returning on the screen.
Raven-Symoné is all grown up now embracing married life with her wife Miranda and reprising her role of Raven Baxter in Raven’s Home. As for what the former child star says about her on-screen dad’s statement, she said she felt it initially sounded like he “disowned” her. But, it doesn’t mean they both need Dr. Dolittle in order to portray that father-daughter duo again.
Listen, I agree with him. We have to do something else together. I'm down for the cause!
I highly doubt a third Dr. Dolittle will ever come into play as Robert Downey Jr. took on the role for the 2020 reboot of Dolittle. But, don't expect a film series to come from that movie either as the Razzie-winning film got mediocre reviews and was a box-office failure. Eddie Murphy’s time playing father figures at all isn’t over yet as he grills Jonah Hill’s character in Netflix’s You People. This ensemble-cast comedy is when two families clash as their children get engaged. Think of it almost as Meet the Fockers combined with Guess Who in terms of cultural clashes.
Eddie Murphy and Raven-Symoné may not be back playing Dr. Dolittle and Charisse, but hopefully, they’ll find a way to reunite on-screen. Until then, you can watch Dr. Dolittle on your Disney+ subscription and You People on your Netflix subscription.
