Downey Goes To The Dogs For 'Dr. Peabody'

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Robert Downey Jr., star of Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes, is set to provide the voice for Dr. Peabody, a supersmart dog who pairs up with his "pet boy" Sherman in the forthcoming DreamWorks Animated feature based on cartoons from the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon series. The Lion King director Rob Minkoff is directing Downey from a script written by Jeffrey Ventimilia and Joshua Sternin, who previously worked on the big-screen Yogi Bear movie as well as The Simpsons TV series.

Dr. Peabody and Sherman are fairly little-known by contemporary audiences, who likely haven't seen the 1950s and ‘60s cartoon series where they first appeared. The show focused on Peabody and Sherman traveling through time to discover unusual (and unlikely) things about historical figures, but Minkoff indicated that the film would also include an origin story for the duo.

"Mr. Peabody is this genetic anomaly," Minkoff said. "He does have brothers and sisters, all of them non-speaking, no super-smart dogs. He's an outcast, but has overcome it by being so great at so many things."

EW said that Sherman wasn't cast yet, although from the character's description - a wide-eyed, well-meaning kid - Up costar Jordan Nagai would probably be a good choice. Meanwhile, the magazine plans to unveil the first image of DreamWorks' rendering of Downey Jr. as Peabody in their Jan. 21 issue, and indicated that the character bears a surprising resemblance to Downey's human countenance.