The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: The Cat's Musical Tales (1996) - DVD Review

Film:
DVD:

Written by Adam Felber and Stephanie Simpson
Directed by David Gumpel, Emily Squires, and Kathryn Mullen
Starring the Voices of Bruce Lanoil, Anthony Asbury, John Kennedy, Kathryn Mullen, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Pam Arciero, and Tim Lagasse

Released by: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
Rating: NR (suitable for all audiences)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Own it if you've got kids.

The Cat in the Hat (Lanoil) has more fun in store for all his friends. In the three episodes on this DVD, he's visited by Horton (Kennedy), the Grinch (Asbury) and more of Dr. Suess' favorite characters and I have a suspicion they are going to explore some musical stories for us.

Well, I can say this is one that the Henson Company got right. It has the feel of Fraggle Rock combined with all the fun of Dr. Seuss. Don't be surprised here, though: this is not Seuss' original writings. They are simply using "puppetized" Seuss characters to provide some entertainment for young children. And it works. The stories are not too complex nor do they take themselves terribly seriously at all. The writers and directors of this show stay true to the one mission of providing sheer entertainment for the kids. My favorite of these stories is how the Grinch met Max the dog.

It makes me wish there were some special features on the DVD. I'm sure there are copyright and legal issues, but it sure would have been nice to see some of the source material attached to the DVD. The parents who grew up on Seuss would have probably enjoyed hearing from the Henson artistic staff about how they brought this show to life and are helping to make it all accessible to a new generation. But nope, this DVD is just for the kiddos.

Still, if your kids like it (and, you know I'm a big fan of trying these discs out on your kids first), I would drop the dough to buy this one. Who knows, they might actually like the ones in the rest of the series, too.

• Buy it from Amazon.
• Click here to buy Dr. Seuss stuff from Amazon.