Eddie Murphy is terrified of live animals, and insisted that as many as possible be superimposed digitally in scenes. When he couldn't avoid acting in the same room as an animal, the shots frequently ended with Murphy screaming.
The large variety of animals in the film, required months of pre-production planning and patient training. Trainers use natural training methods that involve studying the behavioral characteristics of each species and the unique traits and temperament of each individual animal. The animals learned to respond to voice, sound and hand commands and were rewarded with their favorite foods.
One of the newest technological innovations 2-D imaging, was used to create the illusion that the animals are actually talking. The animals are filmed moving their mouths naturally and in post production the movements were manipulated frame by frame to make it seem as if the animal is forming the words with its own teeth, lips and tongue. This differs from the imaging done on the film Babe (1995) where all the animal mouths were 3-D images. For Babe, computer generated mouths were superimposed on the animal actors. Although that technology was advanced for its day, the newer, more precise 2-D imaging in Dolittle takes the animals to a new level of photo-reality.
Awareness of natural predator/prey situations prompted special attention. In scenes where the owl appears to be in the same area with natural prey, such as small rabbits, birds or rats, the owl was filmed separately for maximum safety.
Reni Santoni: the circus owner with long white hair talking to the cops after Dolittle takes Tiger for surgery.