DON’T PET THEM.

Retired cop Rollo Lee (John Cleese) is hired as the new manager of a small London zoo whose owners, a huge corporation, wants it to host only dangerous animals. It took the Fish Called Wanda (1988) crew nine years to deliver a movie that is not a sequel but still reunites the cast and is made in the same spirit. Once again, animals play a key part and the movie mixes equal parts warmth with a sense of humor that more conservative viewers might find in bad taste. Very entertaining, but the story is essentially a simple-minded farce, and Kevin Kline (in a dual role) is a little disappointing.

1997-U.S. 93 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Robert Young, Fred Schepisi. Screenplay: John Cleese, Iain Johnstone. Cast: John Cleese (Rollo Lee), Jamie Lee Curtis (Willa Weston), Kevin Kline (Vince McCain/Rod McCain), Michael Palin (Adrian ”Bugsy” Malone), Ronnie Corbett, Carey Lowell.

Trivia: Co-produced by Cleese. After Young departed for another project, Schepisi directed reshoots of the film.

Quote: “I sort of feed him some little special tits-bits. Tits. Tid, tid, sorry, tidbits. Anyway, he just… loves his nuts.” (Cleese discussing an animal with Curtis)

IMDb