science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or " insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly a ...
vivisection
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal testi ...
. The novel deals with a number of philosophical themes, including pain and cruelty, moral responsibility, human identity, and human interference with nature. Wells described it as "an exercise in youthful blasphemy."
''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' is a classic work of early science fiction and remains one of Wells's best-known books. The novel is the earliest depiction of the science fiction motif " uplift" in which a more advanced race intervenes in the evolution of an animal species to bring the latter to a higher level of intelligence. It has been adapted to film and other media on many occasions.
Plot
Edward Prendick is an Englishman with a
scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
education who survives a shipwreck in the southern
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. A passing ship called Ipecacuanha takes him aboard and a man named Montgomery revives him. Prendick also meets a grotesque bestial native named M'ling who appears to be Montgomery's
manservant
A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...
. The ship is transporting a number of
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...
s which belong to Montgomery, most strangely a puma. As they approach the
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
which is Montgomery's destination, the captain demands Prendick leave the ship with Montgomery. Montgomery explains that he will not be able to host Prendick on the island. Despite this, the captain leaves Prendick in a
dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
and sails away. Seeing that the captain has abandoned Prendick, Montgomery takes pity and rescues him. As ships rarely pass the island, Prendick will be housed in an outer room of an enclosed compound.
The island belongs to Dr. Moreau. Prendick remembers that he has heard of Moreau, formerly an eminent physiologist in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
whose gruesome experiments in
vivisection
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal testi ...
had been publicly exposed, and who fled England as a result of his exposure.
The next day, Moreau begins working on the puma, eventually revealed as being experimented into a woman. Prendick gathers that Moreau is performing a painful experiment on the animal and its anguished cries drive Prendick out into the jungle. While he wanders, he comes upon a group of people who seem human but have an unmistakable resemblance to swine. As he walks back to the enclosure, he suddenly realises he is being followed by a figure in the jungle. He panics and flees, and the figure gives chase. As his pursuer bears down on him, Prendick manages to stun him with a stone and observes that the pursuer is a monstrous hybrid of animal and man. When Prendick returns to the enclosure and questions Montgomery, Montgomery refuses to be open with him. After failing to get an explanation, Prendick finally gives in and takes a sleeping draught.
Prendick awakes the next morning with the previous night's activities fresh in his mind. Seeing that the door to Moreau's operating room has been left unlocked, he walks in to find a humanoid form lying in bandages on the table before he is ejected by a shocked and angry Moreau. He believes that Moreau has been vivisecting humans and that he is the next test subject. He flees into the jungle where he meets an
Ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
-Man who takes him to a colony of similarly half-human/half-animal creatures. Their leader is a large grey unspecified creature named the Sayer of the Law who has him recite a strange litany called the Law that involves prohibitions against bestial behavior and praise for Moreau.
Suddenly, Dr. Moreau bursts into the colony looking for Prendick, but Prendick escapes to the jungle. He makes for the ocean where he plans to drown himself rather than allow Moreau to experiment on him. Moreau explains that the creatures called the Beast Folk were not formerly men, but rather animals. Prendick returns to the enclosure where Moreau explains that he has been on the island for eleven years and has been striving to make a complete transformation of an animal to a human. He explains that while he is getting closer to perfection, his subjects have a habit of reverting to their animal form and behaviour. Moreau regards the pain he inflicts as insignificant and an unavoidable side effect in the name of his scientific experiments. He also states that pain is an animalistic instinct that one who is truly human cannot have, cutting his thigh with a
penknife
Penknife, or pen knife, is a British English term for a small folding knife. Today the word ''penknife'' is the common British English term for both a pocketknife, which can have single or multiple blades, and for multi-tools, with additional too ...
with no apparent reaction, to further prove his point.
One day, Prendick and Montgomery encounter a half-eaten rabbit. Since eating flesh and tasting blood are strong prohibitions, Dr. Moreau calls an assembly of the Beast Folk and identifies the Leopard-Man (the same one that chased Prendick the first time he wandered into the jungle) as the transgressor. Knowing that he will be sent back to Dr. Moreau's compound for more painful sessions of vivisection, the Leopard-Man flees. Eventually, the group corners him in some undergrowth, but Prendick takes pity and shoots him to spare him from further suffering. Prendick also believes that although the Leopard-Man was seen breaking several laws, such as drinking water bent down like an animal, chasing men (Prendick), and running on all fours, the Leopard-Man was not solely responsible for the deaths of the rabbits. It was also the Hyena- Swine, the next most dangerous Beast Man on the island. Dr. Moreau is furious that Prendick killed the Leopard-Man but can do nothing about the situation.
As time passes, Prendick becomes inured to the grotesqueness of the Beast Folk. However one day, the half-finished puma woman rips free of her restraints and escapes from the lab. Dr. Moreau pursues her, but the two end up fighting each other, leading to their mutual deaths. Montgomery breaks down and decides to share his alcohol with the Beast Folk. Prendick resolves to leave the island, but later hears a commotion outside in which Montgomery, his servant M'ling, and the Sayer of the Law die after a scuffle with the Beast Folk. At the same time, the compound burns down because Prendick has knocked over a lamp. With no chance of saving any of the provisions stored in the enclosure, Prendick realizes that Montgomery has also destroyed the only boats on the island during the night.
Prendick lives with the Beast Folk on the island for months after the deaths of Moreau and Montgomery. As the time goes by, the Beast Folk increasingly revert to their original animal instincts, beginning to hunt the island's rabbits, returning to walking on all fours, and leaving their shared living areas for the wild. They cease to follow Prendick's instructions. Eventually the Hyena-Swine kills Prendick's faithful companion, the Dog-Man created from a St. Bernard. With help from the Sloth Creature, Prendick shoots the Hyena-Swine in self-defence.
Prendick's efforts to build a raft have been unsuccessful. Luckily for him, a lifeboat that carries two corpses drifts onto the beach (perhaps the captain of the ship that picked Prendick up and a sailor). Prendick uses the boat to leave the island and is picked up three days later. When he tells his story, he is thought to be mad. So he feigns amnesia.
Upon his return to England, Prendick is no longer comfortable in the presence of humans, all of whom seem to him to be about to revert to an animal state. He leaves London and lives in near-solitude in the countryside, devoting himself to chemistry and
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...
in the studies of which he finds some peace.
Main characters
Humans
* Edward Prendick – The narrator and protagonist.
* Dr. Moreau – A
vivisectionist
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...
who has fled upon his experiments being exposed and has moved to a remote island in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
to pursue his research of perfecting his Beast Folk.
* Montgomery – Dr. Moreau's assistant and Prendick's rescuer. A medical doctor who enjoyed a measure of happiness in England, he is an
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
who feels some sympathy for the Beast Folk.
Beast Folk
The Beast Folk are animals which Moreau has experimented upon, giving them human traits via vivisection for which the surgery is extremely painful. They include:
* M'ling – Montgomery's servant who does the cooking and cleaning. Moreau combined a bear, a
dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
, and an ox to create him. As Prendick describes M'ling, he states that M'ling is a "complex trophy of Moreau's skill, a bear, tainted with dog and ox, and one of the most elaborately made of all the creatures". He has glowing eyes and furry ears. M'ling later dies protecting Montgomery from the other Beast Folk on the beach.
* Sayer of the Law – A large, grey-haired animal of unspecified combinations that recites Dr. Moreau's teachings about being men to the other Beast Folk. The Sayer of the Law serves as a governor and a priest to the Beast Folk. He is later killed in an unseen scuffle between Montgomery, M'ling, and the Beast Folk.
* Ape-Man – A monkey or
ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
creature that considers himself equal to Prendick and refers to himself and Prendick as "Five Men", because they both have five fingers on each hand, which is uncommon among the Beast Folk. He is the first Beast Man other than M'ling to whom Prendick speaks. He has what he refers to as "Big Thinks" which on his return to England, Prendick likens to a priest's sermon at the pulpit.
*
Sloth
Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their l ...
Creature – A small, pink sloth-based creation described by Prendick as resembling a flayed child. He is one of the more relatively benign creatures and helps Prendick kill the Hyena-Swine before fully regressing.
* Hyena- Swine – A carnivorous hybrid of hyena and pig who becomes Prendick's enemy in the wake of Dr. Moreau's death. He is later killed by Prendick in self-defence.
* Leopard-Man – A leopard-based rebel who breaks the Law by running on all fours, drinking from the stream, and chasing Prendick. The Leopard-Man is killed by Prendick to spare him further pain, much to the dismay of Dr. Moreau.
* Ox-Men – A group of gray ox-based creatures who appear twice, first when Prendrick is introduced to the Beast Folk and then again after Montgomery's death.
*
Satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...
-Man – A hybrid of a goat and an ape. Prendrick describes him as unsettling and " Satanic" in form.
* Swine-Men and Swine-Woman – A group of pig-based Beast Folk who appear during Prendrick's introduction to the Beast Folk.
*
Mare
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...
-
Rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
Creature – A hybrid between a horse and a rhinoceros who appeared during Prendrick's introduction to the Beast Folk.
*
Wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
-Men and Wolf-Women – A group of wolf-based Beast Folk who appear during Prendrick's introduction to the Beast Folk.
* Bear-Bull Man - A hybrid of a bear and a cattle who appeared during Pendrick's introduction to the Beast Folk.
* Dog-Man – A Beast Man created from a St. Bernard who, near the end of the book, becomes Prendick's faithful companion. He is so like a domestic dog in character that Prendick is barely surprised when he reverts to a more animalistic form. The Dog-Man is later killed by the Hyena-Swine.
* Fox-Bear Woman – A female hybrid of a
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
and a bear who passionately supports the Law. Prendick quickly takes a dislike to her and described her as being evil-smelling.
* Wolf-Bear Man - A hybrid of a wolf and a bear who was mentioned during the hunt for the Leopard-Man as hunting his fellow Beast-Folk a wee-bit too much.
* Half-Finished Puma-Woman – The last beast-person created by Moreau. She is halfway through her process of being turned into one of the Beast Folk, but was in so much pain from the surgery that she uses her strength to break free of her restraints and escape. Moreau then chases after her with a revolver. He and the creature fight each other which ends in a mutual kill.
* Ocelot-Man – One of the smaller creatures which briefly appears after Moreau's death and is shot by Montgomery during his scuffle with the Beast Folk on the beach.
Historical context
At the time of the novel's publication in 1896, there was growing discussion in Europe of the possibility of the degeneration of the human race. Increasing opposition to animal
vivisection
Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for Animal testi ...
led to formation of groups like the
National Anti-Vivisection Society
The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an international not-for-profit animal protection group, based in London, working to end animal testing, and focused on the replacement of animals in research with advanced, scientific techniques. S ...
in 1875, and the
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection
Cruelty Free International is an animal protection and advocacy group that campaigns for the abolition of all animal experiments. They organise certification of cruelty-free products which are marked with the symbol of a leaping bunny.
It wa ...
in 1898. ''The Island of Dr. Moreau'' reflects the ethical, philosophical, and scientific concerns and controversies raised by these themes and the ideas of
Darwinian evolution
Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that ...
which were so disrupting to social norms in the late 1800s. In the introduction to the Atlantic Edition, H.G. Wells explained that the book was a reaction to the trial of Oscar Wilde and a covert condemnation of homophobia influenced by Swift.
Reception
The novel has been criticised as lacking a scientific basis to form the plot of the story. It has almost 5,000 reviews on Goodreads, with an average rating of 3.73 out of 5.
The Island of Doctor Moreau in popular culture
The novel has been adapted to films and other media on multiple occasions. In addition, the novel has influenced many fictional works. The following are some of the works which are related to the character of Dr. Moreau and his story:
In literature
*
Maurice Renard
Maurice Renard (28 February 1875, Châlons-en-Champagne – 18 November 1939, Rochefort-Sur-Mer) was a French writer.
Career
Renard authored the archetypal mad scientist novel '' Le Docteur Lerne, sous-dieu'' r. Lerne - Undergod(1908), wh ...
's 1908 French novel ''
Le Docteur Lerne, sous-dieu
''Le Docteur Lerne, sous-dieu'' ("Doctor Lerne, Demi-God") is a fantasy novel by the French writer Maurice Renard, published in 1908.
Inspired by ''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' by H. G. Wells, Renard adds a significant twist: the narrator himse ...
'' was inspired by ''The Island of Doctor Moreau'', and dedicated to H. G. Wells by its author.
* JLA: Island of Dr. Moreau (2002) is a one-shot tale where Dr. Moreau creates an animal version of the
Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
. As in the novel they start returning to their animal behavior.
* In Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ''
Heart of a Dog
''Heart of a Dog'' (russian: links=no, italic=yes, Собачье сердце, Sobachye serdtse) is a novella by Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov. A biting satire of Bolshevism, it was written in 1925 at the height of the NEP period, when commu ...
'' (1925) a Moscow surgeon Dr. Preobrazhensky transplants human organs into the body of homeless dog. As a result, the animal transforms into the man, Poligraf Poligrafovich Sharikov. In the end of the novel Preobrazhensky undergoes another operation to return him to the dog's state.
* The title figure in Argentinian writer
Adolfo Bioy Casares
Adolfo Bioy Casares (; 15 September 1914 – 8 March 1999) was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, diarist, and translator. He was a friend and frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges. He is the author of the Fa ...
novel '' The Invention of Morel'' (1940), a scientific genius of questionable morality, alludes to Wells's Moreau.
*''Moreau's Other Island'' (1980), by
Brian Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist, and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for o ...
, is an updating of the original to a near-future setting. US Under-Secretary of State Calvert Madle Roberts is cast ashore on the eponymous island where he discovers the cyborgised
Thalidomide
Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications o ...
victim Mortimer Dart carrying on Moreau's work. It transpires that Dart's work is intended to produce a 'replacement' race that can survive a post-nuclear environment, and that Roberts approved Dart's funding.
* ''The Madman's Daughter'' trilogy (2013), written by Megan Shepherd, tells the story of Dr. Moreau's daughter Juliet. However, each book is based on a different classic novel: the first book is based on this novel by Wells, the second one on
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
's ''
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'' (1886), and the final book is based on
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
's ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...
'' (1818).
* In chapter 1 of
Daniel Pinkwater
Daniel Manus Pinkwater (born November 15, 1941) is an American author of children's books and young adult fiction. His books include ''Lizard Music'', ''The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death'', ''Fat Men from Space'', ''Borgel'', and the pi ...
's novel ''Lizard Music'', Victor watches a late-night film on TV which is identified in chapter 2 as ''The Island of Dr Morbo''.
* In chapter 61 of '' The Fallen'' (2013), book five of
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson (born 3 July 1958) is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer. He has also written and produced for television and is the author of the ''Enemy'' book series, as well as the first five novels in the ''Young Bo ...
's
post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...
horror series, The Enemy, the expedition party from the museum encounters a strange set of malformed children at the biomedical company Promithios, who recite the Litany of the Law.
* ''The Isles of Dr Moreau'' (2015), by
Heather O'Neill
Heather O'Neill (born 1973) is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, '' Lullabies for Little Criminals'', in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of ' ...
in her short story collection ''Daydreams of Angels'' tells of a grandfather who, when he was young, meets an eccentric, albeit humane scientist named Dr Moreau on "the Isle of Noble and Important and Respectable Betterment of ''Homo sapiens'' and Their Consorts". Moreau's experiments involve combining animal DNA with human DNA and the story unfolds as the grandfather meets (and dates) several of these humanoid creatures.
* '' Dr. Franklin's Island'' (2002), by
Ann Halam
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
, is a loose adaptation of the story, in which the eponymous scientist performs transgenic experiments upon the narrator and two other survivors of a plane crash, transforming them into mostly-animal hybrids.
* '' Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Dr. Moreau'' (2012), by
Guy Adams
Guy Adams (born 6 January 1976) is an English author, comedian, and actor, possibly best known for the novel ''The World House''. Adams is also a regular writer for Big Finish productions, who produce audio plays based on ''Doctor Who'', as we ...
Theodora Goss
Theodora Goss (born September 30, 1968) is a Hungarian-American fiction writer and poet. Her writing has been nominated for major awards, including the Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Seiun Awards. Her short fiction and poetry ...
features the half-finished puma woman from ''The Island of Dr Moreau'' as one of its main characters, Catherine.
* In Wonder Woman (2016) Chapter 76, Greek goddess Aphrodite is reading a book with the title "The Island of Dr. Moreau"
* In '' Moon Over Soho'' (2011), the investigation into the Faceless Man uncovers a deserted sex parlor which the malign wizard's predecessor had operated in the 1970s. Upon learning that it'd specialized in magically-altered human "chimeras" with animalistic features, Peter nicknames it the "Strip Club of Dr. Moreau".
* ''The Daughter of Doctor Moreau'' (2022) by
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Silvia Moreno-Garcia (born 25 April 1981) is a Mexican Canadian novelist, short story writer, editor, and publisher.
Early life and education
Moreno-Garcia was born 25 April 1981, and raised in Mexico. Both her parents worked for radio stations. ...
is a novel billed as "a dreamy reimagining of ''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico."
In music
* The song ''Toes'' by the alternative band
Glass Animals
Glass Animals are an English indie pop band formed in Oxford in 2010. Founded and led by singer, songwriter, and producer Dave Bayley, the group also features his childhood friends Joe Seaward, Ed Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane. Bayley wrote ...
is based on the book's story.
* The music video for the song ''
Eaten Alive
''Eaten Alive'' (known under various alternate titles, including ''Death Trap'', ''Horror Hotel'', and ''Starlight Slaughter'', and stylized on the poster as ''Eaten Alive!'') is a 1976 American horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written ...
No Spill Blood
No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles:
English language
* ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses)
* A determiner in noun phrases
Alphanumeric symbols
* No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script
* No symbol, displayed ...
'' by
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...
.
* The song ''Island of Lost Souls'' by ''
The Meteors
The Meteors are an English psychobilly band formed in 1980. Originally from London, England, they are often credited with giving the psychobilly subgenre — which fuses punk rock with rockabilly — its distinctive sound and style.
About.co ...
House of Pain
House of Pain was an American hip-hop trio that released three albums in the 1990s. The group consisted of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy, and Everlast. The group's name is a reference to the H. G. Wells novel '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'', a refer ...
took their name from the novel.
* The sophomore studio album by the
nu-metal
Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu m ...
band
Tallah
Tallah is an American nu metal band from Pennsylvania. They are currently signed to Earache Records.
History Formation and ''No One Should Read This'' (2017-2020)
Founded in 2017, Tallah was formed by drummer Max Portnoy, who asked guitaris ...
titled '' The Generation Of Danger'' (2022) is, as stated by vocalist Justin Bonitz, inspired by the book's story.
In radio
* David Calcutt adapted the story for a
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
''Saturday Night Theatre'' dramatization in 1990, with
Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
as Montgomery,
Garard Green
Garard Green (31 July 1924 – 26 December 2004) was a British actor and commentator.
Green was born in Madras, India in 1924 where his father was superintendent of the government press. When his father died in 1933 the family returned to t ...
as Moreau,
Terry Molloy
Terry Molloy (born 4 January 1947) is an English actor. He is known predominantly for his work on radio and television, especially his portrayal of Davros, creator of the Daleks, in the BBC television science fiction series '' Doctor Who''.
C ...
as M'Ling, Kim Wall as Prentice and Neal Foster as Prentice's Nephew.
* In 2017, Big Finish Productions adapted the story into a two-hour audio drama starring Ronald Pickup as Doctor Moreau with John Heffernan as Edward Prendick and Enzo Cilenti as Montgomery.
*
Jonathan Pryce
Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...
read a five-part abridgment for ''Book at Bedtime'' on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
in 2008.
In television
* In ''
Orphan Black
''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identical ...
'', a
BBC America
BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...
sci-fi/thriller series, the book plays an important role beginning in the third season. An old copy of the book contains Professor Duncan's cryptic key to human cloning. The fourth season establishes an island similar to Moreau's, called Westmoreau, referred to in the series as simply "The Island of Dr. Moreau." On the island, a Dr. Moreau type figure, P.T. Westmoreland, is the reclusive head of a mysterious and powerful scientific elite who performs experiments on human subjects. Much of the fifth season is set on the island.
* ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
annual Halloween special adapted the novel as a segment in their "
Treehouse of Horror XIII
"Treehouse of Horror XIII" is the first episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the thirteenth Treehouse of Horror episode. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on Novemb ...
" episode called "The Island of Dr. Hibbert", in which the doctor invites unsuspecting Springfield residents to his island resort, and turns them into human-animal hybrids including Homer to a
walrus
The walrus (''Odobenus rosmarus'') is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous distribution about the North Pole in the Arctic Ocean and subarctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the fami ...
, Marge to a
panther
Panther may refer to:
Large cats
*Pantherinae, the cat subfamily that contains the genera ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis''
**'' Panthera'', the cat genus that contains tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards.
*** Jaguar (''Panthera onca''), found in So ...
(in a reference to Lota from the original Island of Lost Souls movie), Lisa to a hawk, Bart to a
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
, Maggie to an
giant anteater
The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecophag ...
, Mr. Burns to a
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
, Waylon Smithers into a
flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...
, Chief Wiggum to a
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
, Groundskeeper Willie to an
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...
, Ned Flanders to a
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
faun
The faun (, grc, φαῦνος, ''phaunos'', ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology.
Originally fauns of Roman mythology were spirits (genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their c ...
-themed parody of the Sayer of the Law.
* The Canadian cartoon series ''
Spliced
Spliced may refer to:
*Spliced, the result of rope splicing
Rope splicing in ropework is the forming of a semi-permanent joint between two ropes or two parts of the same rope by partly untwisting and then interweaving their strands. Splices ca ...
'' is a lighthearted take on the concept.
* The American animated TV show '' South Park'' features a recurring character who seems to be based on the 1996 Brando portrayal of Dr. Moreau, a mad scientist who experiments on animals and is even the president of the North American Marlon Brando Lookalike Association (
NAMBLA
Nambla is a census village in Baramula district, Jammu & Kashmir, India.
As per the 2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House ...
)
* The ''
Courage the Cowardly Dog
''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' is an American animated comedy horror television series created by John R. Dilworth for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It was produced by Dilworth's animation studio, Stretch Fil ...
'' episode "Klub Katz" is a spoof on the novel, but the victims are turned into machines instead of animals.
* The '' Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "Tyger, Tyger" borrows heavily from the story where a mad scientist named Dr. Emile Dorian (voiced by
Joseph Maher
Joseph Sylvester Maher (29 December 1933 – 17 July 1998) was an Irish actor, playwright, and occasionally theatre director. He was best known for his roles in the comedies of Joe Orton. He received three Tony Award nominations for his roles in ...
) creates the cat-like artificial lifeform Tyger, spliced the DNA of a human and a gorilla to create his henchman Garth, and turns Selina Kyle into an actual cat woman.
* The third-season ''
Sliders
Slider or Sliders may refer to:
Arts
* K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise
* '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex
* ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series
* ...
'' episode ''This Slide of Paradise'' features an island where a scientist (played by
Michael York
Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
, co-star of the 1977 film adaptation) has created human-animal hybrids.
* The “Thriller Bark” story arc in the anime series ''
One Piece
''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...
'' draws heavily from the novel. It includes a surgeon named Dr. Hogback who disappears from the public eye and begins work on animal-human hybrid zombies as well as several characters who are direct references to the Beast Folk from the novel like Absalom who has the snout of a lion, the skin of an elephant, and the combined muscles of a bear and a gorilla.
* The ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...
'' episode "The Island of Mrs. Morceau" features a scientist named Dr. More (voiced by
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-American voice actress. She is best known for her work in video game franchises such as ''Baldur's Gate'', '' Mass Effect'', '' Metal Gear Solid'', '' BioShock Infinite'', '' Metroid Prime'', ''Overwatch'', and '' Sta ...
) who turns people into animal hybrids where she turns Johnny into a hamster hybrid.
* The episode "Venture Libre" of ''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 200 ...
'' features an island that Dr. Venture visits filled with, among other strange creatures, animal-human hybrids resulting from unethical experiments performed by unscrupulous scientists.
* In ''
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aired ...
'' episode "Mutants", the zoo animals are mysteriously disappearing, and we discover that Bainbridge and Bob Fossil have been splicing the animals together in a secret lab.
* In the '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode "
The Begotten
"The Begotten" is the 110th episode of the television series ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', the 12th episode of the fifth season.
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on the Starfleet-managed space station Deep Space Nine n ...
'", changeling policeman Odo deplores the experimental investigation of his physiology during infancy by his teacher Doctor Mora.
In cinema
* ''Ile d'Epouvante'' (1913, ''The Island of Terror''), a French silent film (also spelled ''L'Ile d'Epouvante'' and ''Isle d'epouvante''). The 23-minute, two-reel film, directed by Joe Hamman in 1911 was then released in 1913. By late 1913, the film had been picked up by US distributor George Kleine and renamed ''The Island of Terror'' for its release in Chicago.
* '' Die Insel der Verschollenen'' (1921), a German silent adaption directed by
Urban Gad
Peter Urban Bruun Gad (12 February 1879 – 26 December 1947) was a Danish film director, stage actor, screenwriter, and author. He directed 40 films between 1910 and 1927. His wife Asta Nielsen starred in 30 of his films, also in his début the ...
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
as the Sayer of the Law. In the film, Dr. Moreau creates his Beast Folk through "plastic surgery, blood transfusions, gland extracts, and ray baths". In addition, the Sayer of the Law is depicted as a wolf-like humanoid. Another addition is Lota (
Kathleen Burke
Kathleen B. Burke (September 5, 1913 – April 9, 1980) was an American movie actress of the 1930s and former model.
Early years
Born in Hammond, Indiana, in 1913, Burke was a graduate of Hammond High School. She moved with her parents t ...
), a woman Moreau derived from a panther, set upon to mate with Edward (
Richard Arlen
Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television.
Biography
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...
), so Moreau can find out whether or not she can bear human-children. Lota was not a character the original novel (the closest is a half-finished puma woman), but filmmakers of future adaptations apparently loved her so much, they included a love interest in their adaptations, which include Lilia Duran as Selene in '' Terror Is a Man'' (1959),
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distinc ...
as Ayessa in ''
The Twilight People
''The Twilight People'' is a 1972 Filipino-American horror film directed by Eddie Romero. It was produced by Romero and John Ashley, and written by Romero and Jerome Small. It stars Ashley and features, in an early film appearance, Pam Grier ...
'' (1972),
Barbara Carrera
Barbara Carrera (born Barbara Kingsbury) is an American actress, model and artist. She starred in the films '' The Master Gunfighter'' (1975), '' Embryo'' (1976), '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1977), ''Condorman'' (1981), ''I, the Jury'' (1982) ...
Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American actress, musician, and visual artist. Influential in popular culture, Balk is known for her portrayals of distinctive " goth-girl" characters, often with a dark edge. She has appeared in numerous i ...
Francis Lederer
Francis Lederer (November 6, 1899 Prague – May 25, 2000) was an Austro-Hungarian Empire-born American film and stage actor with a successful career, first in Europe, then in the United States. His original name was Franz (Czech František) Le ...
,
Greta Thyssen
Greta Thyssen (born Grethe Karen Thygesen; 30 March 1927 – 6 January 2018) was a Danish film actress and former model, long-resident in the United States. Born in Hareskovby, Denmark, she appeared in films and television series between 1956 an ...
, and
Richard Derr
Richard Derr (June 15, 1917 – May 8, 1992) was an American actor who worked on stage, screen, and television, performing in both starring and supporting roles.
Early years
Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Derr graduated from Norristown High ...
. This Filipino film, directed by
Gerardo de Leon
Gerardo may refer to:
People Given name
Gerardo is the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian form of the male given name Gerard.
* Gerardo Amarilla (born 1969), Uruguayan politician
* Gerardo Bonilla (born 1975), Puerto Rican-born professional race ...
, was re-released in the United States years later as ''Blood Creature''.
* At the age of 13,
Tim Burton
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as '' Beetlejuice'' (1988), '' Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), '' The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993 ...
The Twilight People
''The Twilight People'' is a 1972 Filipino-American horror film directed by Eddie Romero. It was produced by Romero and John Ashley, and written by Romero and Jerome Small. It stars Ashley and features, in an early film appearance, Pam Grier ...
'' (1972), starring John Ashley and with an early role for African-American actress
Pam Grier
Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distinc ...
, is
Eddie Romero
Edgar Sinco Romero, (July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013), commonly known as Eddie Romero, was a Filipino film director, film producer and screenwriter.
Early life
Romero was born on July 7, 1924. His father was José E. Romero, the first Philippi ...
Michael York
Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
. In this film, Dr. Moreau injects the animals with a serum containing human genetic material.
* '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1996), a New Line-produced film with Marlon Brando,
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
,
David Thewlis
David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is a British actor, author, director and screenwriter.
Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film ''Naked'' (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Awa ...
,
Fairuza Balk
Fairuza Balk (born May 21, 1974) is an American actress, musician, and visual artist. Influential in popular culture, Balk is known for her portrayals of distinctive " goth-girl" characters, often with a dark edge. She has appeared in numerous i ...
, and Ron Perlman. In this film, Dr. Moreau introduces human DNA into the animals in his possession to make them more human. The film's version of the Sayer of the Law is depicted as a blind goat-like creature. Unlike the books and earlier films, the Sayer of the Law survives the ordeal and sees off the main protagonist.
* The sequel '' Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams'' (2002), a lunatic scientist named Romero (portrayed by Steve Buscemi) creates miniature hybrid animals on a mysterious island where technology fails to work. Unfortunately, some of them grow upon being discovered to an experimental growth formula, causing Romero to remain in his lab to avoid being eaten. These creations include Spider Monkeys (a half-monkey half-spider creature with a drider-like appearance), Slizards (a lizard with a snake head and neck), Sporks (a pig/stork variation of a flying pig), Turtleroos (a creature with the head and shell of a turtle and the body of a kangaroo), Bullfrogs (a cattle with the hindquarters of a frog), Catfish (a cat with the head and tail of a fish), Horse-Flies (a horse with the head and wings of a house fly), Sheepdogs (a sheep with the head and legs of a bulldog), and Tiger Sharks (a tiger with the head and back fin of a bull shark). After having been briefly captured by Donnagan Giggles, Romero is confronted by his creations who don't eat him as he had feared. The hybrids help thwart Donnagan's plot to use the Transmooker, where the Spork snatches it and a Slizzard eats it.
* The film ''
Dr. Moreau's House of Pain
''Dr. Moreau's House of Pain'' is a 2004 film directed by Charles Band
Charles Robert Band (born December 27, 1951) is an American film producer and director, known for his work on horror comedy movies.
Career
Band entered film productio ...
'' (2004), made by cult horror studio Full Moon Pictures, is billed as a sequel to the novel.
* Christopher Lambert plays Dr. Moreau in the 2018 Italian horror film ''La Voce del Lupo''.
In gaming
* In the 1997 video game ''
Fallout
Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...
'', a grossly mutated human by the moniker of "
Master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
" shares similar characteristics with Doctor Moreau.
* The 2000 video game ''
Metal Slug 3
is a run and gun video game developed by SNK. It was originally released in 2000 for the Neo-Geo MVS arcade platform as the sequel to ''Metal Slug 2''/''Metal Slug X''. The music of the game was developed by Noise Factory.
The game was ported ...
s first mission is an island called "Pallas Island" which was also called "Dr. Moreau's Island" featuring mutated animals albeit as a result of nuclear experimentation.
* '' Vivisector: Beast Within'' is a Ukrainian developed first-person shooter game released in the
CIS
Cis or cis- may refer to:
Places
* Cis, Trentino, in Italy
* In Poland:
** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central
** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north
Math, science and biology
* cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...
in 2005 and later in the rest of Europe in 2006. The game is heavily inspired by the novel, originally developed as a
Duke Nukem
''Duke Nukem'' is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various co ...
title.
* The video game ''
Champions Online
''Champions Online'' is a free-to-play superhero-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game ( MMORPG) developed by Cryptic Studios. The game is based on the ''Champions'' license and its rules and setting are loosely based on the HERO ...
'' features Dr. Phillippe Moreau, the grandson of Dr. Henry Moreau and member of the terrorist organization VIPER (short for Venomous Imperial Party of the Eternal Reptile). Phillippe used his technology to perfect his father's work where he created the Manimals.
* Doctor Merlot, the main villain of the 2016 game '' RWBY: Grimm Eclipse'', is heavily inspired by Doctor Moreau.
* ''
Resident Evil Village
''Resident Evil Village'' is a 2021 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom. It is the sequel to '' Resident Evil 7: Biohazard'' (2017). Players control Ethan Winters, who searches for his kidnapped daughter in a village filled wit ...
'' features as one of its primary antagonists a mutant named Salvatore Moreau. In-game journal entries describe his experiments on other human subjects with the same parasitic organism that caused his grotesque transformation.
* ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' has an antagonist named Frantisek Markov who lives on an isle in ''
Ravenloft
Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a ''pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces ...
'' where he experiments on animals to make them human.
* The 2003 strategy video game ''
Impossible Creatures
''Impossible Creatures'' is a 2003 steampunk real-time strategy game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Microsoft Game Studios. Its unique feature is that the armies used in gameplay are all created by the player, and involve com ...
'', centered around creating armies out of animal hybrids, was largely inspired by the novel.
Scientific plausibility
In the short essay "
The Limits of Individual Plasticity "The Limits of Individual Plasticity" is a short essay written by the science fiction author H.G. Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) in 1895. In it, Wells speculates his theories on the plasticity of animals, explaining that the default b ...
" (1895), H.G. Wells expounded upon his firm belief that the events depicted in ''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' are entirely possible should such vivisective experiments ever be tested outside the confines of science fiction. Until recently, modern medicine has shown that non-human animals lack the necessary brain structure to emulate human faculties like speech. In addition, immune responses to foreign tissues make transplantation within one species very complicated, let alone between species. However, a team of researchers at Stanford University have successfully transplanted a cluster of living human brain cells from a dish in the lab to the brain of a newborn rat to study neurological conditions such as autism, ADHD, and schizophrenia.
References
Further reading
* Canadas, Ivan. "Going Wilde: Prendick, Montgomery and Late-Victorian Homosexuality in ''The Island of Doctor Moreau''." ''JELL: Journal of the English Language and Literature Association of Korea'', 56.3 (June 2010): 461–485.
* Hoad, Neville. “Cosmetic Surgeons of the Social: Darwin, Freud, and Wells and the Limits of Sympathy on ''The Island of Dr. Moreau''”, in: ''Compassion: The Culture and Politics of an Emotion'', Ed. Lauren Berlant. London & New York: Routledge, 2004. 187–217.
* Reed, John R., “The Vanity of Law in ''The Island of Doctor Moreau''”, in: ''H. G. Wells under Revision: Proceedings of the International H. G. Wells Symposium: London, July 1986'', Ed. Patrick Parrinder & Christopher Rolfe. Selinsgrove: Susquehanna UP / London and Toronto: Associated UPs, 1990. 134-44.
* Wells, H. G. ''The Island of Dr. Moreau'', Ed. Steven Palmé. Dover Thrift Editions. New York: Dover Publications, 1996.
* Wells, H. G. ''The Island of Doctor Moreau: A Critical Text of the 1896 London First Edition, with Introduction and Appendices'', Ed. Leon Stover. The Annotated H.G. Wells, 2. Jefferson, N.C., and London: McFarland, 1996.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...