Villains Wiki

Hi. This is Thesecret1070. I am an admin of this site. Edit as much as you wish, but one little thing... If you are going to edit a lot, then make yourself a user and login. Other than that, enjoy Villains Wiki!!!

READ MORE

Villains Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Yes, Dr. Manning, he's asleep. Yeah, this will put us on the map. This will change everything. I'm telling you, he is the most extraordinary creature I have ever encountered. Yeah, well, I have grant committees from the N.I.H. and the N.S.F. Some guy from the National Geographic is talking about a special. (chuckles) Mmm. Actually, I have located the owner. It's Marie Alweather. She lives in Cambria, California. Uh, yes. Yes, I understand. No, I agree. There's no legal requirement that we have to return him. He's the property of the Institute now. So, I'll see you tomorrow. OK. Bye-bye.
~ Dr. Reingold talking about becoming famous and deciding to keep Paulie as the property of the institute while unknowingly revealing it to an overhearing Paulie.

Dr. Reingold is the main antagonist of the 1998 film Paulie. He is a biologist research scientist and head of the institute where Paulie was brought to and after discovering that Paulie can talk, he tried to use Paulie to bridge the gap of speech between animals and humans to become famous and never return him to his owner, Marie Allweather.

He was portrayed by Bruce Davison, who also voiced Zuko in The Legend of Korra and played Richard Hagstrom in Tales from the Darkside.

Personality[]

Dr. Reingold is a scientist who studies animals. However, when he met Paulie and was stunned by his ability to speak, Reingold saw Paulie as a meal ticket to fame and refused to return him to Maire Allweather which shows that he was a greedy man and a liar. He was rude to Misha and also showed cruelty when he had Paulie's wings clipped but during the process, it looked like he regretted his actions and when he blew a feather when in his last scene.

Biography[]

After Paulie was trapped during his first attempt at burglary, he was brought by Gerald to the institute where he meets Dr. Reingold. After he is told by Gerald that Paulie keeps talking about Marie Allweather who is his owner that he has been searching for a long time, Dr. Reingold decides to keep Paulie for a few tests. Reingold tells Paulie about what the institute does and that he must help with bridging the gap between humans and animals which is speech. He then "promises" to return Paulie to Marie during the night when they're done and Paulie is subjected through a series of tests where Reingold, his employees and fellow scientists are stunned by his ability to speak.

However, that night Reingold starts a phone call to a Dr. Manning that Paulie will make the institute famous. Unknown to Reingold, Paulie overhears his talk and is shocked to learn that Reingold and the institute have decided to keep him as their property and had no intention of returning him to Marie, despite having found where she lives, much to his anger. The next day, during a press conference, Paulie refuses to co-operate with the tests and humiliates Reingold in front of his scientific-peers like acting like an ordinary parrot and throwing insults. Reingold asks him why he's acting this way and Paulie responds: "You promised!" and starts calling him liar over and over. Paulie tries to escape but he is captured and his wings are clipped by the institute to prevent him from escaping. However, Paulie never talks to anybody again and when he starts biting the researchers, they imprison him in the basement after their project causes a loss of funding.

Years later, after Russian immigrant, Misha discovers that Paulie can talk after getting him to do it. He brings Reingold and others to witness him but the parrot refuses to talk and Reingold and the others leave. Paulie then starts talking again to Misha and tells his story of his journey to find Marie that currently landed him in the institute. Misha decides to help Paulie escape and give up his janitor job at the institute to help him find Marie. Reingold and a scientist discover Misha and Paulie making a phone call for Marie's address and tries to get Paulie back but Misha prevents them, stands up to Reingold and announces his resignation. Reingold and security give chase but Misha and Paulie lock themselves up in the laboratory, free the animals from their cages and escape to Marie's home. Reingold is last seen entering the lab and and blows a feather.

Quotes[]

Dr. Reingold: I want you to understand what it is we do here. Mostly we just listen and we watch. You see, there's this gap between animals and humans and the gap is called speech. Now, if that gap could be bridged, we could truly understand each other. Won't you consider helping us? Tell you what. I'm gonna have you moved out of here tonight and I promise you, I will take you to see Marie when we're done. Maybe I'm the one who should be locked up.
Paulie: You promise?
Dr. Reingold: I promise.
~ Dr. Reingold falsely promising to return Paulie to Marie
It is the thing that makes us us and because language is so tied... to what it is to be human, we have always been urged not to attribute human characteristics, like consciousness and logic and feelings, to our non-speaking animal subjects. Until now. What we are proposing... is a multidisciplinary research program, that will not only unlock the mystery of animal communication, but get to the heart of language itself and just as every journey starts with a single step, this program starts with a single, extraordinary subject.
~ Dr. Reingold to his scientific-peers during the press conference.
Can't have him try to fly away again, he can seriously injure himself.
~ Dr. Reingold deciding to have Paulie's wings clipped to prevent him from escaping.
This is for your own good.
~ Dr. Reingold to Paulie when having his wings clipped.

Trivia[]

  • Dr. Reingold is Bruce Davison's second villainous role.
  • Despite being the main antagonist of the film, Dr. Reingold only has a short amount of screen-time in the movie.

Navigation[]

Advertisement