Talk:The Island of Doctor Moreau

Goodreads

"It has almost 5,000 reviews on Goodreads, with an average rating of 3.73 out of 5"

Goodreads? Really, now? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2804:14D:5C20:5464:8D0A:781B:FEE9:DF9 (talk) 07:18, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Wrong

The author of this article has never read the book and based the summary off of the 1996 movie. It's obvious when you think that DNA and electro-shock devices wouldn't exist in 1896.

I've since changed the heading to "Movie plot". Feel free to write a summary of the book. And please sign your posts by typing 4 tildes (~) after your statements. - Cybjorg 17:08, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

Now that I've had the time, I've cleaned up the article to reflect the original nature of the novel, with additional references to the movie adaptations and other instances in pop culture. - Cybjorg 10:31, 14 November 2005 (UTC)

Just to add on to what you just said about references (which was about a year ago), there was an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog based on this novel. 203.120.68.75 19:52, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Cybjorg, "DNA wouldn't exist in 1896"? Surely DNA has existed as long as there have been living organisms on our planet? Did you mean genetic engineering? - Mabzilla (talk) 13:54, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Gene Wolfe

Can anyone confirm if Gene Wolfe's The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories, or any of his other similarly titled stories, is an homage of any sort to Moreau? I couldn't find an answer through Google and I don't know enough of eith story to speculate myself. If so, I suppose it ought to be added to the 'Popular Culture' section. flip 03:05, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

chimeras: "it" or "he/her"?

I'm not sure if these "hybrids" should be referred to as a non-human object(it) or a human one (he/her).

Eg:

...and in self-defense [Dr Moreau] kills him.

They're sophonts, I'd use human pronouns. Besides animals often get referred to by gender from time to time too anyway, especially when they have names. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.152.132.74 (talk) 07:20, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Dr moreau.JPG

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BetacommandBot 04:56, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

'Plot' summary?

Despite its status as an influential novel, I have no idea of exactly what this work is actually about. There's no short summary of exactly what happens in the novel, I've never read the actual work, I have very little background to put the rest of the article's coverage into perspective. I'm noting the stubbiness of this section -- can someone expand? --Stratadrake 01:29, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Furry Fandom

Should/could links to articles on "Furries" be included? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.211.75.108 (talk) 10:06, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Can't see why they would be relevant to this article? 149.152.132.74 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 07:22, 6 April 2011 (UTC).

Trivial Allusions and references

In what is part of a larger battle here at Wikipedia to keep the trivial allusions out of the main novel articles, I'm pasting all of the allusions and references from the main page here. If you would like to discussion the worthiness of any allusions, please keep the discussion here and then move them to the main page as we get consensus. A lot of these allusions are not worth elevating to the main page. If someone wants to create a separate article on this topic, and turn these trivial allusions into something, then I think that would be acceptable.

References in other works

A popular story that has influenced many works, mainly about mad scientists creating chimeras. The following are some of the works which are closely related to Moreau and his story:

Novels, comics, and printed works

• Moreau's Other Island, 1980, a novel by Brian W. Aldiss featuring a doctor who has been nicknamed "Moreau".
• Adolfo Bioy Casares's novel The Invention of Morel, the account of a fugitive who lands on a desert island where an unscrupulous scientist has conducted his work.
• The Moreau series of novels by S. Andrew Swann deals with human/animal hybrids named "moreaus".
• Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me about Who We Are by Roger Fouts with Stephen Tukel Mills Chapter 6, The Island of Dr. Lemmon, page 124 compares Dr. William B. Lemmon to Moreau.
• Dr. Moreau is featured in Alan Moore's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II. In the comic book, Moreau's first name is given as Alphonse. He appears to have survived his ordeal from the original book — though he bears some scars from the wounds described in Wells' narrative — and gone on to experiment, alone in the English countryside, creating many characters from classic fiction, including Puss in Boots, Rupert Bear, Toad of Toad Hall and Peter Rabbit. He references Gustave Moreau as his nephew. Edward Prendrick also makes an appearance as an insane outsider who is permanently monitored by Moreau creations. The virus which destroyed the Martians in The War of the Worlds was also one of Moreau's creations (though this was covered up by the British government at the time).
• The High Evolutionary, a Marvel comic villain, is distinctly similar to Dr. Moreau. He has the power to evolve living beings, and use it to evolve animals into humanoid bestial species called the New Men.
• JLA: The Island of Dr. Moreau was an Elseworlds comic produced in 2002 by DC Comics, portraying the Justice League as various human/animal hybrids.
• The Isle of Dr. Steve is a plot arc in the online webcomic Sluggy Freelance that has to do with a character named Oasis. Much speculation exists as to what she is actually a hybrid of.
• Dr. Franklin's Island by Ann Halam is loosely based on this H.G. Wells novel.

Films, TV, and screen-based works

• Island of Lost Souls, a 1933 film starring Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi.
• The Island of Dr. Moreau, a 1977 film starring Burt Lancaster and Michael York.
• The Island of Dr. Moreau, a 1996 film starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.
• The Twilight People (1973), a similar film, with Pam Grier in the role of the panther woman.
• Island of Mutations (1979) starring Barbara Bach featured a scientist who transforms the native inhabitants of a remote island into amphibious deep-sea diving creatures.
• In the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, evil zookeeper Bembridge creates human/animal hybrid mutants.
• In The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XIII", one of three featured short stories is titled The Island of Dr. Hibbert. Here, the transformation process has been reversed; Dr Hibbert does not attempt to transform animals into humans, but rather, humans into animals.
• In the Sliders episode "This Slide of Paradise" (1997), the main characters visit a compound where Dr. Vargas (played by Michael York) engages in Dr. Moreau-style experiments producing animal/human chimeras. York himself starred in the 1977 movie version of the novel.
• The Japanese animated movie Blue Submarine No. 6 featured a Dr. Zorndyke who created hybrids on an isolated island and, when discovered and condemned by humans, killed billions of people by flooding most of the world's food-producing lowlands. His creations, mainly sea-hybrids, treated him as a father and waged constant war against the surviving humans.
• An Episode of Batman: The Animated Series entitled "Tyger, Tyger" (1992) is loosely based on the events of the novel where Doctor Emile Dorian experiments with cat DNA which leads to the creation of Tygrus and the splicing of Selina Kyle.
• Freakazoid once parodied it as "The Island of Dr. Mystico", featuring an insane scientist (voiced by Tim Curry) who kidnaps Freakazoid, Cosgrove, many of the show's villains, Henry Kissinger, and Leonard Maltin and attempts to turn them into "orangu-men" so he can take over Cleveland. Marlon Brando makes a cameo appearance in this episode, as a parade float.
• In the episode "Klub Katz" of the cartoon series "Courage The Cowardly Dog," the protagonists are stranded on an island where the owner of the titular "Klub Katz" transforms humans and animals into machines. The protagonists are transformed into a washing machine, a wrecking ball and a helicopter.
• In "the Proud Family Movie," "The Proud family" goes to an island extremely similar to Dr. Moreau's.
• In "South Park" there is a character similar to Dr. Moreau.
• In Kirby: Right Back at Ya!, there is a character named Doctor Moro, whose name, character, and appearance are based on Dr. Moreau.
• John Cusack's character in the 2008 film War, Inc. references feeling "like a refugee from the Island of Dr. Moreau" during one of the first scenes.

Computer and role-playing games

• FarCry also revolves around a scientist creating chimeric creatures on an archipelago.
• The Dungeons & Dragons game setting Ravenloft includes Frantisek Markov, the darklord of Markovia, who is responsible for the creation of creatures called Broken Ones and has the ability to shape-shift into any form of animal but must maintain his human head and is cursed in that he can never again have a humanoid body.
• The role-playing game d20 Modern has rules for genetically engineered animal-men hybrids called moreaus, which come in several forms based in different animal species, including feline, dolphin, and bear moreau.
• In the video game Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, the villain Dr. M is based on Doctor Moreau, and even shares the affinity for splicing animals.
• In the computer game Impossible Creatures, Dr. Eric Chanikov, in a secluded island, invents the Sigma Technology, which allows two animals to be fused into a new creation.
• The game Vivisector by ActionFourms is based on The Island of Doctor Moreau.
• In the post-apocalyptic computer role-playing game Fallout, the villain known as "The Master" was a doctor who was expelled by his community and is now sending mutants (of his creation) into the world. His name is Dr. Richard Grey but he changed it from Dr. Richard Moreau upon his expulsion.
• In the online game Runescape there is a quest players can take wherein a group of men called the "Beast Makers" are led by Dr. Moreau.
• Also the 2007 hit "BioShock", maintains a huge resemblance to the storyline of "The Island of Doctor Moreau"

Music

• The electronic group Infected Mushroom refers to Dr. Moreau in one of their songs, "Over Mode".
• The book inspired the name of hiphop group House of Pain. Several songs and certain versions of their debut album contain words from the book.
• The band Oingo Boingo's song "No Spill Blood" on their album Good for Your Soul is based on the book and the 1933 movie. It makes reference to Moreau's "House of Pain" and the punishments for breaking Moreau's laws.
• The Devo song Jocko Homo, as well as the title of a 1978 album, takes its line "Are we not men?" indirectly from the book through the 1933 movie, and before that from Shylock's soliloquy in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
• Rodan, a rapper from the New York based hip hop group Monsta Island Czars, refers to himself as Dr. Moreau sometimes and references Dr. Moreau in his songs.
• The Italian neoclassical band Ataraxia featured a song on their album Arcana Eco entitled "The Island of Doctor Moreau".
• The music video for Diana Ross's single Eaten Alive is inspired by the novel.
• The third song "Pride of Creation" on the 2008/2009 album Tinnitus Sanctus by the European power metal band Edguy prominently features themes from the novel.

Victorianist (talk) 20:56, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

References

Missed a few

Adaptations

The novel has been made into a movie on three occasions:

• Island of Lost Souls (1933 film) with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi.
• The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977 film) with Burt Lancaster and Michael York.
  • This was turned into a novel by Joseph Silva and published by Ace.
• The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film) with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer

Other

• The Art of H. G. Wells, by Ricardo Garijo, is a 2006 trading card adaptation of three stories by Wells, the second of which is The Island of Dr Moreau.[1].

Victorianist (talk) 20:58, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

Proofreading needed for sentence!

The crew pushes him back into the lifeboat from which they rescued they stole his money truly intends to abandon him, the islanders take pity and end up coming back for him. -From the plot summary. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.171.143.175 (talk) 21:13, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

How is this a B-Class article

There's a plot and.... nothing. Nothing about the themes, effects on culture, influence on authors etc... This is a long stub. - superβεεcat  05:32, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

An Overlooked Adaptation?

Terror Is A Man (1959) directed by Gerardo de Leon from a script by Paul Harber. While H.G. Wells' Island of Dr. Moreau is not credited, the plot is clearly inspired by the classic science fiction novel. In the movie, Dr. Girard uses surgery to transform a panther into a humanoid creature. The creature escapes and goes on a rampage. The plot includes a clueless outsider mystified by the doctor and his friends. The movie was filmed in the Philippine Islands. IMDB listing The movie has the gimmick of a warning bell before particularly shocking sequence. In true 1960s drive-in movie fashion, Terror is a Man" is also known as Blood Creature USA, Creature from Blood Island, Criatura Sangrenta, Island of Terror, and The Gory Creatures.Naaman Brown (talk) 23:38, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

What about the concept in the 2010 film Splice? Both of these concepts deal with merging multiple species' DNA. Jeanlovecomputers (talk) 03:32, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

The book is all masculine!

There's no mention of women in the book! All the book says is "all Men" and "Men", never "people"! Is that book really for only men, or am I just picky? --Angeldeb82 (talk) 04:37, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

It's just an odd Victorian manner/way of referring to people. Men in this novel seems to refer to mankind. Women seem to be absent from the vast majority of Victorian works anyways. Also, the novel itself does not really have any female characters with the possible exception of Fox-bear witch.

Fox-bear witch I presume is female. Since all the animals are manufactured by Moreau, they have no need of reproductive bits. The life boat is the Lady Vain. An oblique reference to varicose veins, perhaps? Certainly more subtle than Lady Big Butt, anyway. 220.244.247.105 (talk) 02:23, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

Public reaction

You ought to mention the violent public outrage that greeted this novel, which was regarded as obscene because it involved vivisection. 109.154.14.8 (talk) 12:04, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

an exercise in youthful blasphemy

More than 100 websites attribute this quote to H. G. Wells. Not one, not a single one, can cite the source. As Hitler's propagandists stated, "If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth." How on God's green earth do we know Wells really said this? I don't think he did. Prove me wrong! DanQuigley 03:14, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Citation now added!! --Mabzilla (talk) 00:41, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

moreau/montgomery is canon

I don't know what you people's problem with admitting this is. Stop undoing my edits. It's 2015, let two mad scientists be gay on an island. You homologue. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terriblehyde (talk • contribs) 00:05, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

There's not evidence of that. If you can find a reliable source that identifies Montgomery as Moreau's boyfriend, that's fine, but otherwise it's original research and speculation. IronGargoyle (talk) 00:09, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

Dude, I'm Dr. Moreau. I'm him. I would know. I'm my own source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terriblehyde (talk • contribs) 00:15, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

Not an actual source, see WP:RS for what an actual reliable source is. Joseph2302 (talk) 00:16, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

Please explain to me how I'm not a reliable source for information about my own self — Preceding unsigned comment added by Terriblehyde (talk • contribs) 00:19, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

It's explained in WP:RS. You should read it. And if you still have trouble understanding, just consider this: how do we know that you're Moreau? Anyone could claim that. Even if it's true, it has to be verified by reliable sources. HandsomeFella (talk) 15:08, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

@HandsomeFella: They have been blocked for vandalism/being a troll. They couldn't actually be the person, as it's a fictitious person from an 1896 book. Joseph2302 (talk) 17:20, 2 May 2015 (UTC)

HaldosIsReal changed the entry for Montgomery back to describing him as Moreau's "boyfriend". I undid the edit. Kopesh (talk) 06:22, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Vandalism of Main Characters Section

Can someone please lock the main characters section? The entry for Montgomery has been continually vandalized/trolled for the last two months. Kopesh (talk) 02:20, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

It's not vandalism. We're trying to keep the article up to date with the facts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.34.171.11 (talk) 17:03, 10 July 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:The Island of Doctor Moreau/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

It would be nice if there was more info on the novel itself. I found it very unhelpful in that respect. But I suppose if I wanted a movie history it would have been helpful.

Last edited at 23:53, 6 January 2008 (UTC). Substituted at 08:13, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

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