In Search of Dr. Seuss


In Search of Dr. Seuss is a 1994 American television film chronicling the adventures of a news reporter, Kathy Lane, who enters the world of Dr. Seuss by opening a magical book. Also starring are Matt Frewer, Christopher Lloyd, Andrea Martin, David Paymer, Patrick Stewart, Andraé Crouch, Robin Williams and Eileen Brennan. The film premiered on TNT on November 6, 1994.

Plot

Kathy Lane, a reporter, goes to Theodor Geisel's La Jolla, California, home and meets a strange character. Kathy tells him that the editor of The Ferncrest Times demands from her an article on Dr. Seuss. When she uses him as a source, the character reveals himself to be the Cat in the Hat. Kathy finds a magical book labeled, "Open a book, open your imagination", which pulls her into the world of Dr. Seuss. The Cat in the Hat shows Kathy a political cartoon that would become The Sneetches. The Cat leads Kathy to a door that leads to a beach. On the beach, they read The Sneetches. The Cat tells Kathy about Seuss being a target during World War I. She ends up in a kitchen in which she meets Mr. Hunch from Hunches in Bunches. They eat lunch and learn more about his childhood. Mr. Hunch shows her a book based on his childhood, McElligot's Pool.
Kathy notices Horton the Elephant and ends up in a jungle. She reads Horton Hatches the Egg. The Cat in the Hat appears and tells her about Seuss in the 1920s. Kathy wanders into "The World of Advertising". The Ad Man and Ad Woman explain Dr. Seuss in the advertising business. The room rocks and Kathy is transported to Mulberry Street, where she meets Marco. She helps Marco to devise a story to tell his father after he walks home from school.
The story changes as Kathy and Marco add exciting things to it. The story starts out as a horse pulling a cart. But it turns into a tale with an elephant, the mayor, planes with confetti, a Raja, a band playing music, and more. Marco keeps the story as a horse pulling a cart. He leaves.
Sgt. Mulvaney brings Kathy to a revolving door that is shown to represent the way people rejected Dr. Seuss's first book for publishing. The Sergeant disappears through the door. Kathy follows but ends up in a hall with the Cat in the Hat. The Cat explains to Kathy some of Dr. Seuss's dark political cartoons. An alarm sounds and he disappears. Kathy walks into a room and meets The Voice of America. The Voice of America shows Kathy the documentary, Hitler Lives, which was made by Geisel and his wife.
The Voice of America further reveals that Dr. Seuss's initial drawings of Yertle the Turtle depicted the character with a Hitler-esque mustache and a Nazi uniform. A live-action version of the story is shown in a gospel song. Kathy meets again with the Cat in the Hat, who tells her his own origin story as told by a father reading to his two daughters. After the story, Kathy ends up in the story of Green Eggs and Ham, in which she is chased by multiple Sam-I-Ams who attempt to make her eat green eggs and ham. Kathy ends up in the mountains where the Grinch had lived. A woman reads to her How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
Kathy shows up at the Street of the Lifted Lorax, where the Cat tells her that while the Grinch was professionally successful for Dr. Seuss, his personal life was not, and he explains what happened to Seuss during the late 1960s. She put in a payment written on paper in a bucket, after which The Once-Ler hoisted up the bucket with all those things, collected them, brought down a speaker, and told the story of The Lorax. After planting a new Truffula Tree, marching music sounded, indicating a butter battle that represented The Butter Battle Book.
Kathy and The Cat in the Hat visit the library, at which they sing Oh, the Places You'll Go!, after which they are transported back to Dr. Seuss's house. Dr. Seuss is quoted: "I hope for the children a world of peace and they would never lose their sense of wonder and discovery. From there to here, from here to there. Funny things are everywhere."

Cast

Uncredited

Stories featured

The film features many of Dr. Seuss's stories, although they are edits of older adaptations, while some of the adaptations are newly created live-action versions. It also includes some of his political work, including excerpts of his short subject, Hitler Lives.
  1. The Sneetches
  2. Hunches in Bunches
  3. McElligot's Pool
  4. Horton Hatches the Egg
  5. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
  6. Hitler Lives
  7. Yertle the Turtle
  8. The Cat in the Hat
  9. Green Eggs and Ham
  10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
  11. The Lorax
  12. The Butter Battle Book
  13. ''Oh, the Places You'll Go!''

Home media

Nearly two months before the television premiere on TNT, Turner Home Entertainment released In Search of Dr. Seuss directly to VHS on September 14, 1994, and re-released it on June 6, 1995, the same date as the home-video releases of Ralph Bakshi's The Butter Battle Book and Hanna-Barbera's Daisy-Head Mayzie. Simultaneously, Turner combined the films on a LaserDisc release with an exclusive distribution by Image Entertainment. On November 18, 2003, the film arrived on DVD for the first time, distributed by Warner Home Video. In March 2008, In Search of Dr. Seuss, Daisy-Head Mayzie, The Butter Battle Book, and the 1942 Merrie Melodies short, Horton Hatches the Egg, were included as bonus features on the deluxe DVD release of MGM Animation/Visual Arts's Horton Hears a Who!.