Dr. Seuss (1996)

Dr. Seuss (1996) [[Image:|330px|center|]] Genre: Educational Comedy Puppetry Musical Running Time: 24-30 minutes Country: United States Release Date: October 13, 1996-May 15, 1998 1999-2006 (VHS) 2003-2013 (DVD) Network(s): Nickelodeon (1996-1997) Nick Jr. (1998) Distributed by: The Jim Henson Company Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (pre-2010) Lionsgate (2010-2013) Vivendi Entertainment (2013-2015) Starring: Martin P. Robinson (1998) Anthony Asbury John Kennedy Stephanie D'Abruzzo Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (1998) Kathryn Mullen (1996-1997) Bruce Lanoil (1996-1997) Tim Lagasse (1998) Pam Arciero Joey Mazzarino Kevin Clash (1998) Brian Cummings (1998-1999; VHS only) Episodes: 20

Dr. Seuss (also more often known as The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss premiered on Nickelodeon on October 13, 1996. It ran for two 20-episode seasons on Nick (later Nick Jr.), with the final episode airing on May 15, 1998.

Bad Qualities

NOTE: A lot of these problems were from season 2, where the format was changed entirely.

1. Despite the series, which was created five years after Theodor Seuss Geisel's death, being intended to pay homage to him and his cartoon creations (with his widow even approving of the show), it has various issues.
2. The show uses all the gags, jokes and elements from the Dr. Seuss books... without actually understanding the context of how each gag in his works (as well as in the Dr. Seuss specials from the 1970s, despite their limited animation) was used... or why their wild, comedic style as a whole could work very well.
   • Even more insultingly, the Cat in the Hat is very poorly represented via his same-named puppet caricature in the second season. The second season flanderizes the Cat and makes him an obnoxious, kind, gentle, nurturing, overly happy, Bear in the Big Blue House-esque host. He comes off as more annoying, sentimental and obnoxious than funny, which is a huge insult to both his original self and Dr. Seuss (his creator).
     • He takes more of the host/narrator role in season 2, as he covers various new stories around the Seuss world, and he doesn't seem to care about the bad things that happen to Terrence McBird (regardless of whose fault in his playhouse it is).
     • He also constantly says "I'm so glad that you're here! Oh, I like it a lot! It's just not as much fun to be here when you're not!", which is annoying.
3. The stock sound effects can be used at inappropriate times, especially in the second season.
4. The Dr. Seuss characters do not translate to puppetry well at all. In this show, many of them look ugly, weird, unappealing and (in some cases) downright horrifying. This is especially a problem with the human puppets.
5. Everyone has a disturbing tendency to look at the camera (especially in season 2), which is really creepy.
6. The new characters are bland and not-well written, have no personality and feel pointless as characters (especially when they do nothing at least half the time), more so in the second season. On top of that, none of them get an introduction and seem like they were thrown in at the last muinute.
   • Little Cat Z, introduced in the second season, has been flanderized and is now a useless character who is no longer silent or as tiny as a flea. All he does is randomly mutter Z-words and possess a hipster attitude, which the other Cats can understand perfectly. He's also a rip-off of Treelo from Bear in the Big Blue House, who is also unintelligible yet understood perfectly by the other characters.
     • The Cat in the Hat often influences him and the other Little Cats to do a lot of bad or idiotic deeds, even though their intent is to make Terrence McBird engage in some kind of fun activity with him. Terrence immediately falls for the Cats' deeds and takes them to heart without thinking it through.
   • Princess Tizz, as seen in "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise", is just a whiny little brat and a bad influence on children.
     • In the same episode, King Derwin tells her that her presents are all too rare and precious to be played with. This technically makes her a punching bag and creates a plot hole: if Tizz can't play with any of her presents, how do they belong to her and not King Derwin? Why couldn't His Majesty have been given these rare, precious gifts and opened them instead of his daughter?
     • She has a tendency to be overly dramatic, though she does improve as the second Seuss story in "Big Birthday Surprise" goes on.
     • Her voice is grating, especially when she complains about how none of the presents she received in "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise" belong to her.
   • Felix Finkledooper, a one-shot character who only appears in "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise", is a Gary Stu and extremely bland.
     • The 8th Birthday Glurk, who appears in the same episode as Felix, is a cheaper version of the Birthday Bird from Happy Birthday to You!.
   • Sam-I-Am and Pam-I-Am, who appear in season 2 (with Pam only appearing in five episodes), are overly sweet and cheerful. Their characterization is beyond horrible and Sam-I-Am is an insult to his book counterpart from Green Eggs and Ham, as they're obnoxious imbeciles with no charm. They also tend to take advantage of the Cats' good-hearted nature.
     • They are often loud and like to rush through, or have a problem with, lending the Cats a helping hand. Also, their sheer and relentless stupidity help the Cats, but they don't help Terrence McBird or cause him any less trouble.
     • Their gags are mostly flat, stale and unfunny.
       • A good example would be Pam-I-Am attempting to cure Terrence McBird's hiccups in "The Sounds All Around" by pulling his beak with a wrench. In the same episode, she is a jerk who unintentionally makes Terrence feel even more miserable than his hiccups have already made him with her wrench.
     • They barely, if ever, get any comeuppance for their actions—hence their status as both karma houdinis and idiot houdinis.
     • They both seem to have complete disregard for their surroundings, especially Pam.
       • In "The Cat in the Hat's Art House", Pam rudely interrupts the Cats and Terrence McBird with a Latin-style musical number and dresses like Chiquita Banana for no good reason.
   • Terrence McBird (introduced in season 2) is an absolutely horrendous addition to the show. He's also far more of a plot device than a character, as he's used as one to get the plot to move whenever he does something.
     • He's always whiny, angry, cranky and grumpy in each of his appearances. He even gets upset over things that aren't even a big deal, like the Cat in the Hat wanting him to try something in most episodes or his playhouse being a mess in "The Cat in the Hat Cleans Up His Act".
     • Terrence being tortured by something/someone and pressured to engage in an activity by the Cats is an irritating, badly-twisted running gag that makes you feel extremely bad for him. This is made even worse by his already pitiful emotions, which aren't even comedic.
     • He is supposed to be an adult, as evidenced by his scarf and necktie, yet he's very immature and cowardly. He somehow even refuses to do things he should've already known how to do at his age, like drawing, planting a flower, playing an instrument, cleaning house, flying by himself, etc.
       • He is such a coward, in fact, that in one episode he thinks he caught Little Cat Z's cold and pretends to be sick.
     • He's pretty creepy when he has his eyes wide open, much like Yertle the Turtle in the same season.
     • He is at his worst in "A Bird's Best Friend", in which he refuses to share his Hooble Ball with the Cat in the Hat.
     • He doesn't realize that he needed to color his own picture for the Cat in the Hat in "The Cat in the Hat's Art House", nor do the Little Cats bother to share their crayons with him. Instead, when he says his picture "is missing something", Pam-I-Am is called upon. After a musical number ("You've Got to Have Color"), Terrence receives a box of crayons from her.
7. As The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss is a puppet show created by the Jim Henson Company instead of an animated or fast-paced live-action one, it completely fails to replicate Dr. Seuss' style. It gets even worse when you realize that puppetry is way too conventional of a style and that the show plays it way too safe with the surreal humor (even more so in its second season). Because of this, we have weak slapstick and jokes that fall flat or feel awkward. They fail miserably due to the lack of subtlety, pacing and structure as well. It's obvious that Jim Henson Productions couldn't recreate any of Dr. Seuss' charm on a low budget or by translating his characters into puppetry.
   • Adding onto that, puppets tend to have more stiff and wonky movements than cartoon characters. Even in well-received puppet shows like Sesame Street and anything involving the Muppets, puppets cannot move smoothly or energetically.
   • If you know anything at all about the history of illustration or just basic knowledge, you should KNOW how important Dr. Seuss is to the medium and development of books as—not just entertainment—but as a whole. He invented many gags in literature that we associate with classical surrealism or humor, both of which were designed as a rebellion against more conventional styles. His visual language is unique and carries his stories to new heights of artistic expression. Surrealism provided the foundation from which he built his career, but like a launch pad sitting idle just before liftoff, surrealism was soon to be engulfed in the flames of ridiculous fun and its launch tower thrown to the ground with each new editorial cartoon, magazine cover, painting or children's book. Seuss has such a presence and influence over the world of animation. There's been more than enough taking after his achievements for a full biography and retrospective over his worldbuilding or anything else he did in his life to be emphasized why this man is truly a king.
8. The first Seuss story in "The Cat in the Hat’s Big Birthday Surprise" basically takes Happy Birthday to You!, strips away all the book's complexity and worldbuilding, boils it down to just a few tropes that are common in The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and other preschool shows, removes any and all of the locations in the book—the Katroo Birthday Sounding-Off Place, the Asso-see-eye-ation, the Birthday Flower Jungle, the Mustard-Off Pools and the Katroo Birthday Party Reservation—and over-simplifies the plot. Basically, it's the perfect blueprint for cashing in on the original story's success. Felix Finkledooper and the 8th Birthday Glurk are much flatter characters than the Birthday Bird and the kid and the tropes no longer have any justification.
9. Unlike other preschool shows (e.g. Sesame Street, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Blue’s Clues, Thomas & Friends), TWWODS doesn't have any meaning or purpose at all and is a useless show, which also basically makes it an "as long as it's for kids, it can be as low-quality as possible" excuse. At least one excerpt could prove the fact that it doesn't teach anything new or that nothing it teaches kids is substantial. The point is, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss has such shallow lessons, so giving some examples of some lessons that are run-of-the-mill and banal is a nil point indeed. This can be figured out pretty easily, especially since the series ended 25 years ago. Here's a hint: Nothing, because its educational value is very surface-level and it can't articulate a single complex or deep thing.
   • Unlike with Seuss' classic stories, there are no episodes that serve metaphors for serious issues and themes (e.g. environmentalism, dictatorship, racism and war). Instead, epsiodes focus on kids' show fare like "don't be afraid of the dark" ("There Is Nothing to Fear In Here"), language acuqisition ("Talkin' with the Cat"), "let's throw a surprise party" ("The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise"), "even an indoor picnic can be fun" ("The Cat's Indoor Picnic"), "stay happy and healthy" ("A Bird's Guide to Health" and "The Feed You Need"), "cleaning up can be fun" ("The Cat in the Hat Cleans Up His Act") and "let's cure a hiccup" ("The Sounds All Around").
     • In all seriousness, the fact that Dr. Seuss' own work can house such deep meanings is a testament to the man's craft, but this show doesn't have anything going for that.
10. The rhymes do not have much of Dr. Seuss' heart or charm.
11. Horrible, blocky, Nintendo 64-esque CGI that has aged like spoiled milk. It doesn't help that the CGI backgrounds are often blended with puppetry, which makes them look even worse.
12. Several goofs. For example, the Wubbuloscope (which only appears in season 2) usually has a yellow-and-pink color scheme with a large, very wide optical tube (even in all of the clips of the Cat in the Hat using it). This telescope also normally has a yellow/turquoise gradient eyepiece. However, it has a much different design in several earlier-produced season 2 episodes like "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise" and "The Cat in the Hat's Flower Power" before the Cat uses it. It is designed more sloppily, has a purple-and-gold color scheme and a narrower optical tube.
13. Tons of bad episodes, including:
    • "The Cat in the Hat Takes a Nap" (which started season 2 on a sour note)
    • "The Cat in the Hat Cleans Up His Act"
    • "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise" (possibly the worst episode of the show)
    • "The Sounds All Around" (also counts as the worst)
    • "Make Yourself at Home in the Cat's Playhouse"
    • "The Cat in the Hat's Flower Power"
    • "The Feed You Need"
    • "The Cat in the Hat's First-First Day"
    • "The Cat in the Hat Gets a Package"
    • "The Cat in the Hat's Indoor Picnic"
    • "There Is Nothing To Fear In Here"
    • "The Cat in the Hat Builds a Door-a-Matic"
    • "A Bird's Best Friend"
    • "The Cat in the Hat's Art House"
    • "Lester Leaps In"
    • "A Bird's Guide To Health"
    • "Talkin' with the Cat"
    • "Walkin' with the Cat" (a rehash of the previous episode)
    • "The Cat in the Hat Helps a Friend"
    • "Cat's Play" (which ended the series on a sour note)
14. The title of "The Cat in the Hat Takes a Nap" is misleading, as Terrence McBird takes a nap in the episode instead of the Cat.
15. Some of the voice acting is poor:
    • Little Cat A and Morton the Elephant Bird's voices are whiny, scratchy, overall very irritating and higher-pitched than usual in the second season.
    • Tim Lagasse is miscast as Junior in season 2, as he makes his voice more mature sounding than in the previous season.
16. Instances of filler, such as the Cat cranking up the Wubbuloscope as the map of the Wubbulous World unfolds and the Wubbuloscope view in every season 2 episode.
17. Martin P. Robinson doesn't even attempt to keep his performance as the Cat in the Hat in season 2 consistent with Bruce Lanoil's, basically using the same voice he did for Telly from Sesame Street and Riff from Allegra's Window.
18. Many of Dr. Seuss' characters don't make any physical or cameo appearances in the show. These characters include Sally and her brother Conrad, the Little Cat from I Can Read My Eyes Shut!, the unnamed grumpy man from Green Eggs and Ham (who was later named Guy-Am-I in the 2019 Green Eggs and Ham series on Netflix), Thing One and Thing Two, Gerald McGrew, the Lorax, Marco and Marvin K. Mooney. The cubs from Hop on Pop, however, do make a cameo appearance in season 2 as a framed painting in the Cat's Playhouse.
    • Not even Bartholomew Cubbins from 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins appears in the show, with a bland discount named Milo the Page taking his place.
19. Some scenes just happen too quickly without proper flow or fluency.
20. The second season worsened most of the problems stated above.
    • Not only did they do several changes to make it preschooler-friendly, but this season of the show tries to be interwoven (with the Cats serving as a framing device in every episode and the Cat in the Hat covering various stories based around the Jungle of Nool, Seussville and the Kingdom of Didd). A problem that's impossible to ignore is this concept behind the plot of each episode. It comes off as nonsensical, confusing and devoid of any direction at all. It doesn't help that season 2 resorts to reusing the same formula:
      • Each episode begins with an A-plot that serves as the framing device for two different stories narrated by the Cat in the Hat. This A-plot always has Terrence McBird not wanting to try something and the Cats getting him to like it. Their intention is to teach him never to be afraid of trying new things, but this comes off as "disagreeing with other people is wrong". The Cat in the Hat later uses the Wubbuloscope to present the two Seuss stories to the audience (complete with a wacky transition from the Cat's playhouse to the setting of the story). To cap off each episode, the Cat in the Hat sings "Just Shout Hooray", sometimes with Terrence McBird and/or the Little Cats accompanying him.
    • The other Dr. Seuss characters (Horton and Morton, Yertle the Turtle, the Grinch, Jane and Junior Kangaroo, etc.) only having their own subplots that the Cat presents to the audience by consulting the Wubbuloscope is just stupid.
    • Allegedly, the show's format was changed because a focus group at a test screening of "The King's Beard" thought that it was for much younger kids.
    • Not only are the Cat in the Hat, Terrence McBird and the Little Cats overused, but so is Sarah Hall Small, who appears in at least eight episodes.
    • Fox in Socks and Mr. Knox return, but are reduced to the Cat's visitors.
    • The humor and verbal/wordplay jokes have become less subtle and unfunnier than they were in season 1:
      • The show sometimes uses gross-out humor just for a cheap visual gag or a cheap laugh. In "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise", for instance, Sam-I-Am makes a rather disgusting birthday cake for Terrence McBird in honor of his birthday. When he's done, he eats it and burps. He even makes an unfunny burp joke in the process.
      • "The Cat in the Hat Builds a Door-a-Matic" has a few puns: Junior imagining himself meeting a guy named Sanderson and eating sandwiches made out of sand.
      • "The Sounds All Around" has another pun-based joke: Little Cat A asks Terrence what a cow reads every morning and he doesn't know. SPOILER ALERT: It's a moospaper.
      • Mick Maputo Bird is basically an unnecessary Elvis Presley reference.
      • In "The Sounds All Around" and "The Cat in the Hat Cleans Up His Act", the Cat shows a rhyming machine to Terrence McBird to try and cure his hiccups in the former. In the latter episode, he uses it to show him how to do the laundry. Because they use the machine to help him rhyme and it's shown before they even say any words that rhyme with one another, that ruins the humor entirely.
21. The writing is terrible in the second season, even from usually good writers/directors like Adam Felber, Johnathan Greenberg, Stephanie Simpson and Mo Rocca. The Nick Jr. episodes also have some very childish, cliche, repetitive plots that wouldn't feel out of place in other kids' shows like Barney & Friends. They focus on typical preschool show fare and have many signs of being terribly written:
    • In "The Feed You Need", Bimple Beans are falsely outlawed by King Derwin just because he doesn't like them. Fortunately, he realizes this. Like with the A-plot of the same episode, Milo's subplot is him trying to get His Majesty to change his mind about not liking his favorite food.
    • In "The Cat in the Hat's Big Birthday Surprise", King Derwin upsets his daughter on her birthday. He gives her some presents, only for him to tell her that they're too rare and precious to be played with. It's never even explained why Tizz can't play with these presents.
    • In "The Cat in the Hat's Art House", the Cat in the Hat and the Little Cats don't share their crayons with Terrence McBird, which results in him forgetting that he has to color his picture for them.
    • This era makes almost all of the pre-existing Dr. Seuss characters bland, cliched and unlikable.
    • The second half of the final season makes the episodes even more formulaic, focuses even less on pre-existing Dr. Seuss characters and sees an increase in rehased plots.

Good Qualities

1. In Nickelodeon episodes like "The Simplifier", the Cat returns to his former glory; in the aforementioned episode, a harried husband and father frets over being too busy. The Cat introduces a new product known as the "Super Deluxe Simplify Machine." The more parts that are added to the machine, the greater effect it has in simplifying your life. As the father becomes more and more obsessed with building the machine, he begins to neglect his family, his job and his health. Finally, the Cat returns with another moralizing warning. The Cat, however, makes one last deal and allows the father to return the machine. This simplifies his life... back to where it was at the beginning of the story and so he finds a new appreciation for his life, all thanks the Cat.
2. Unlike The Cat in the Hat (2003) and The Lorax (2012), it isn't that bad of a homage to Dr. Seuss and can be considered more a homage than those two films.
3. The Nickelodeon episodes (Season 1) stay true to the works of Dr. Seuss, and "The Grinch Meets His Max/Halfway Home to Malamaroo" ended the Nick era (1996-1997) on a high note.
   • Very funny songs, like "Don't Get A Gink", "The Grass Ain't Always Greener", and "Who Are You, Sue Snue?". These songs are well-written and tie in better to the plot, unlike some of the Season 2 songs.
   • Good morals, like "the only thing that'll make you happy is what you don't have" and "never be afraid to ask for help."
   • More appealing locations, despite the CGI, they can look decent.
   • Some darker elements.
   • Amazing voice acting.