With adorable animals and interesting adventures, Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion captured the hearts of audiences and inspired the TV series Daktari. Both the film and the TV series were set in an African Wildlife sanctuary, and both starred Marshall Thompson as the doctor with a great love of animals.
Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion
This film stars Marshall Thompson as Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian at an animal behavior study center in Africa. He lives with his daughter Paula (Cheryl Miller), who also has a great affection for animals. She has some pretty interesting pets, and the newest one is Clarence, a cross-eyed lion who has a vision problem and also a heart of gold. They brought Clarence to the game preserve after Marsh responded to reports of a lion terrorizing the locals and he discovered the fellow was not being disruptive on purpose. He merely had a vision problem.
Paula’s pet python, Mary Lou, is the thorn in the side of the teacher Rupert Rowbotham (Richard Hayden), who regularly visits the sanctuary in an effort to bring a decent education to the young woman. He provides several comical scenes when he visits the sanctuary.
Julie Harper (Betsy Drake) is another wildlife enthusiast who is studying gorillas. Julie has a camp set up not too far from the wildlife sanctuary and has been successful in gaining the confidence of the local group of gorillas. She has a pet chimpanzee, Doris, whose intelligence is much higher than the poachers who are after the gorillas!
So, when you add all these characters together, both human and animal, you get a fun mix of adventures and emotions as they all work together to help the animals of the region, whether they are protecting them from a disease or poachers. This eclectic mix of characters (the animals) is adorable – especially Clarence, the lion with double vision.
Daktari- Season One
The 1965 film Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion inspired the TV series Daktari, which ran from 1966-1969. Marshall Thompson and Cheryl Miller reprised their roles as Marsh and Paula Tracy. The series also brought back Clarence, and in the series it was Paula who had the pet chimp, which was named Judy.
In the first season of Daktari, the stories involve more poachers and animals. Dr. Tracy runs the Wameru Center for Animal Behavior and in the series he has two assistants, Mike (Hari Rhodes) and Jack (Yale Summers). Hedley Mattingly plays District Officer Hedley who is just as intent on keeping the animals safe as Dr. Tracy. By the way, if you haven’t already figured it out, Daktari is the Swahili for “Doctor.”
The episodes follow the characters as they interact with the animals and others in an attempt to keep the African wildlife safe. While the stories deal with the humans who interact with each other as well as the animals, the animals that interact with the humans are the ones who steal the show and make it as fun to watch as it is. With little Judy and Clarence you’re sure to have a lot of fun, but they also have many furry friends who bring memorable moments to the show. This DVD set provides plenty of family-friendly entertainment.
Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion and Daktari: The Complete First Season are part of the Warner Bros. Archive Collection. They are fun family entertainment, especially for animal lovers. Who can’t resist an adorable chimp? And let’s not forget about the fellow who started it all, Clarence the cross-eyed lion. These are fun DVDs for both young and old, and filled with old-fashioned entertainment and adorable furry characters. They’re available from the Warner Archive Website.
- Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion
- Studio: Warner Home Entertainment
- Running time: 92 minutes
- Daktari: The Complete First Season
- Studio: Warner Home Entertainment
- Episodes: 18
- Discs: 5
- Running time: 900 minutes
