Like The Muppets and Garfield, Dr. Seuss has also made some classic TV specials all featured in Seuss Celebration (The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat / The Cat in the Hat/ Green Eggs and Ham / The Lorax).  Let’s start with The Cat in the Hat.

Based on the popular children’s book, The Cat in the Hat visits two children named Conrad and Sally, who mope while staring at the rainstorm outside while their mother goes out.  Really.  What kind of a parent leaves their children home alone like that?

The Cat tries to entertain the children out of the goodness of his heart.  But Mr. Kringlebine, the talking fish, is against it.  What a party pooper.  Is that fish afraid that the Cat will cough up hairballs or something?

I’ve recently learned that the voice of the Cat is Allan Sherman.  He was an old singer from the Dr. Demento Show.  One of his biggest hits was Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp).

After the Cat is sent away, he quickly comes back and claims that someone has stolen his moss covered three handled family grudunza.  He never gives a clear description of what it is and it wasn’t mentioned in the book.  So that left me confused.  Luckily the Cat’s aides, Thing 1 and Thing 2, were there to help out.

The Cat also has a special skill to have a whole bunch of different hats under his main one.  I know it’s a cartoon, but it makes me wonder.  Does the Cat have to keep his brain covered all the time?  Most cats don’t like to wear anything on their heads, or anywhere else for that matter.

This TV special is a classic.  The Cat is to Dr. Seuss as Kermit is to The Muppets.  It’s too bad that The Cat in the Hat Comes Back wasn’t a TV special also.  I liked that book as well as the original.

And just a reminder, if the Cat ever visits your neighborhood, make sure that you have plenty of lint rollers handy.

Another classic Dr. Seuss special is Dr. Seuss on the Loose.  What an excellent setup.  The Cat in the Hat hosts a trilogy of tales in this half-hour special.

The first one is The Sneetches.  The only item that separates these creatures is that some have stars on their bellies and some don’t.  Those who don’t are ridiculed and that ain’t right.  The contraptions McBean brings to help the Sneetches are amazing.  They’re like instant fun rides.  You’d think that after all of the Sneetches had stars, or didn’t, the war would be over, right?  Wrong.  Those Sneetches were so stubborn they ended up learning their lesson the hard way.  One question remains.  How will the Sneetches rebuild their economy after all that?

The second tale is The Zax.  Two creatures called Zax bump into each other.  One only goes north and the other only goes south.  They both refuse to get out of each other’s way.  Come on, you guys.  There’s plenty of room.  So, both Zax stand in place for a long time.  Through all kinds of weather, how can they not get sick?  Furthermore, how would they go to the bathroom?  Even with a highway built over those Zax, they still refuse to move over.  It’s a little scary to think about what ever becomes of them.

The last story is an oldie, but a goodie.  Green Eggs and Ham.  A boy named Sam tries to get some nameless guy to try some green eggs and ham.  The guy refuses to try them.  So Sam thinks he might like to try them in a different setting or with an animal companion.  Like that’s really gonna work.  But Sam is not giving up.  Uh-uh.  One of the running gags is a group of dogs, with a couple of horses, chasing the fox through several different places.  I still find that funny.  I guess the moral of this story is to always try new things, even if they do look green and moldy.

This was a good TV special.  All three tales have one thing in common.  They’re all based on stubbornness.  Definitely a moral to live by.

A good way to get reacquainted with Dr. Seuss is to visit Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.  Here are some photos I took of Seuss Land at Christmas when the whole area becomes Whoville.

Coming up in Part 2 are other Dr. Seuss favorites including, The Lorax and The Hoober-Bloob Highway.