[Applause]
In the film, Dr. Doolittle, for those of you who do not...
believes in the philosophy that
man should be able to communicate with animals.
Leslie Bricusse has written one song for Rex Harrison,
in which he says, as only Rex Harrison can:
[British accent] "If we could talk to the animals,
imagine chatting with a chimp in chimpanzee."
Well, I figured... if I sang it like that,
I wouldn't get back in my neighborhood again.
[Laughter]
So, we did a different version.
And it goes like this.
Look out! Ha, ha! [Stamps feet]
[Orchestra] [Lively music]
Ha! [Sings]
If I could talk to the animals...
Just imagine it...
Chattin' with a chimp in chimpanzee.
Imagine talking to a tiger,
chattin' with a cheetah,
oh what a neat achievement it would be.
If we could talk to the animals,
and learn their languages,
maybe take an animal degree.
I'd study elephant and eagle, buffalo and beagle,
alligator, guinea pig, and flea.
I would converse in polar bear and python,
I would curse in fluent kangaroo.
If people asked me, "Can you speak rhinoceros?"
I'd say "of course-eros. Can't you?"
[Groovy music]
Ho!
If I conferred with our furry friends,
man to animal,
think of the amazing repartee.
If I could walk with the animals,
talk with the animals,
grunt, squeak, and squawk with the animals,
and, Lord,
they could talk to me!
[Lively, groovy music]
Ho!
If I could talk to the animals,
think what fun we'd have,
asking over crocodiles for tea.
Or maybe, lunch with two or three lions,
walruses and sea lions,
what a lovely place the world would be.
If I spoke slang to orangutans,
oh the advantages!
Any fool on earth can plainly see.
Discussing Eastern arts and dramas
with intellectual llamas,
that's a big step forward, you'll agree.
I'd learn to speak in antelope and turtle.
My Pekingese would be extremely good.
If I were asked to sing in hippopotamus,
I'd say "Why not-amus?"
And I would!
[Music]
Stop and think of it.
There's no doubt of it.
I could win a place in history.
If I could walk with the animals,
talk with the animals,
grunt, squeak, and squawk with the animals,
and they could...
squeak, and
squawk, and
speak, and
talk
to me.
And they could talk to me.
[Groovy music]
Uh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
[Groovy music]
They could talk to me.
[Music fading]
And they could talk to
me! [Music abruptly ends.]
[Applause]