Oh, these books have to go: Six Dr. Seuss books to cease publication

 In 2019, a heretofore little known study conducted by the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) discovered that the late author-artist Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel had used negative stereotype images in some of his books. I'm pretty sure you know which ones. Depictions of Asians, Arabs, et al, drawn in the Seussian style.

On Tuesday, a day set aside to honor Geisel, Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to pull six of his works from bookshelves.

Following is a press release from Dr. Seuss Enterprises:

Of those, I think I'm only familiar with And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. The others are lesser known titles I had not heard of until now.

What's next? Will other cherished children's classics end up getting yanked for political correctness, inclusiveness, or some other logical, but ill-applied reason? Stay tuned.

Seussology: The Cat In The Hat (1971)

The Cat in The Hat may be the most iconic of Dr. Seuss' characters, aside from, of course, the Grinch. In 1971, DePatie-Freleng took over the license to produce cartoon specials based on Seuss' books, and Cat, it happens, was their first project. Chuck Jones and his staff, including director Hawley Pratt and musical director Dean Elliott, came over from MGM, where they'd produced the first two Seuss specials for CBS, How The Grinch Stole Christmas & Horton Hears a Who!, the latter of which had previously been adapted by Warner Bros. as a short several years earlier.

Humorist Allan Sherman voiced the Cat and also narrated, with Daws Butler lending his voice to the fish. Pamelyn Ferdin (Curiosity Shop) was the voice of Sally, one of the two children. Something got lost in the translation when Mike Myers ("Austin Powers") adapted the story into a feature film some years later and essayed the title role himself in a live-action film.

Universal, by virtue of acquiring the license for live action adaptations of Grinch and the Cat, holds the rights to this classic:



The cartoon hasn't been seen much in recent years, even after the movie was released, which speaks volumes about cablers' lack of interest. The Cat, of course, has since returned in a pair of daily children's shows, the current one airing on PBS and starring Martin Short (ex-SCTV, Saturday Night Live).

 Rating: A.

Seussology: The Lorax (1972)

With a feature film adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax hitting theatres in about 2 weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to remind one and all that this will not be the first adaptation of the tale.

DePatie-Freleng, in conjunction with Dr. Seuss' own Cat In The Hat Productions, produced a half-hour musical adaptation for CBS in 1972, which has not seen the light of day much since its initial broadcast. Actor Eddie Albert (ex-Green Acres) narrates, while the rest of the voices are performed by Bob Holt, who spent the bulk of his career working for DFE during the 70's. I remember seeing this when it first aired nearly 40 years ago, fascinated by the plot, but too young to understand its message.

The 2012 version features the voices of Zak Efron ("High School Musical"), Betty White (Hot In Cleveland), Danny DeVito (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), and country singer Taylor Swift. DeVito voices the Lorax, and the feature length format pads the story even further than DFE did in 1972.

Here, then, is the original cartoon version.



I think this is where we got the phrase, "tree-hugger" from, don't you?

Rating: A.