Underrated Children’s Movies: Or Why Dr. Seuss Was Really a Mad Genius
Consider your Dr. Seuss. Under normal circumstances the name conjures up easy readers, tongue twisters, and heights of creativity too rarely reached in literary history. But did you know he made a movie? A movie in 1952 that was, to put it mildly, just a bit ahead of its time?
Consider the 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Over at my husband’s blog Cockeyed Caravan (yes, we are now a dual-blogging engine in my home) Matt takes a look at this remarkable little bit of cinematic history in his underrated movie series. You have not lived until you’ve seen Hans Conreid sing loud and proud about his girdle. Matt makes some nice comparisons to the recent Where the Wild Things Are adaptation and even a possible Simpsons connection. And as he points out, "The ’50s may have been repressed, but they weren’t repressed very well."
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Check out the site’s other movies too, if you get a chance. Underrated and interesting, every last one of them.
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Oh my god, I love this movie. I thought my friends and I were the only people who cared it existed.
Ah! Suddenly another piece of the Kennedy puzzle falls into place.
Oh, I ADORE that movie!
Am I wrong or did Dr. Seuss not abhor that movie?
But maybe he meant it as a compliment?
I heard that too. Though we just discovered last night that some 10+ songs were cut from the film. Maybe that upset him.
I originally saw this movie 28 years ago when I was going to college in Sweden for a semester. What a hoot to watch it with subtitles! I remember it fondly.
I just put this in my netflix queue. It better be as good as you say because netflix swears I wont like it…and they really “know” me…;>