Tag Archives: Dr Seuss

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The Bootleg Files: Our Job in Japan

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BOOTLEG FILES 766: “Our Job in Japan” (1946 U.S. Army propaganda film.).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube and Internet Archive.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: In collections of U.S. World War II military films.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: No copyright was ever filed on this film, so it can be duped endlessly.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: A digital restoration for commercial home entertainment release is unlikely.

One of the most bizarre news stories of this year involved the decision by Dr. Seuss Enterprises to discontinue the publication of six books by the beloved children’s author due to racially insensitive illustrations of Africans and Asians. The books in question were minor additions to the author’s canon and were never adapted into films or television productions, but for many people the idea that a Dr. Seuss book would be taken off the shelves due to political correctness was the epitome of cancel culture run amok.
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The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot about Halloween! (2016)

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I had absolutely no idea that the Cat in the Hat had his own animated series on television in America. He was always my favorite troublemaker in the Seuss universe.. The studios have been mining Seuss tales for years for new material and have given us is that wretched live action movie. This time around the animated adventure of the cast and his pals learn about the meaning of Halloween.

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The Grinch (2018)

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After 1966’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and 2000’s “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” we now have 2018’s “The Grinch” (I assume the next reboot will be titled “Gri”). Illumination Studios continues being the C grade Disney Strudios, adapting the Dr. Seuss tale if, for no other reason, than to have their own holiday title out for the market and appeal to a younger audience. There’s not a lot of reason for this adaptation, as Illumination doesn’t offer a new twist on The Grinch. Except for obviously omitting “Christmas” from the title, “The Grinch” is an amalgam of Ron Howard’s live action movie, and the original Chuck Jones short movie–except bland.

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How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

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It’s hard to imagine a more perfect adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story than the 1966 Chuck Jones feature; perhaps, “The Butter Battle Book.” In either case, I was one of the many children that grew up watching the TV version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” It’s such a wonderful combination of talents and rich enthusiasm for the source material, that it’s tough to not like it. There’s Boris Karloff, Chuck Jones, and Dr. Seuss, not to mention the perfectly simplistic tale about anti-materialism and the true meaning of Christmas.

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Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

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While director Ron Howard’s “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is by no means as wretched as “The Cat in the Hat,” it’s definitely a grim sign of things to come for the legacy of one of the greatest authors that ever lived. Typical of the Hollywood factory, the studios take a simple and meaningful story and bloat it to obscene proportions, turning it in to a ridiculous facsimile of the source material.

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The Butter Battle Book (1989)

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Dr. Seuss was one of the few children’s authors who did much more than rhyme brilliantly and tell stories about the Who’s at Whoville celebrating Christmas. And even then when you thought he was just telling you a story about a village celebrating Christmas, he was more commenting on the consumerism of Christmas, and how these villagers didn’t need all the materialism behind it after all. Dr. Seuss spent a good portion of his life writing and drawing political cartoons and ninety percent of the iconic characters in his stories were originally born from his political cartoons and years later when he ventured in to telling stories to kids about Cats in Hats, he was telling us much more about himself and providing a moral.

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Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

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HortonHearsAWhoWallpaper102Many people will reason for “Horton” that it’s a good movie because, it’s much better than the previous attempts. And frankly, I’m not buying it. Is “Horton” as bad as the previous live action attempts? No way in bloody hell. But is it good enough to be a classic? No way in bloody hell. “Horton” makes the right decision of using animation this time around and pumps the screen with skilled comedians and it pays off to a certain extent as the adventures end up rather amusing. As an animated effort, it has the right idea, it just doesn’t know how to compose Seuss without turning itself into another “Shrek,” and I prayed this movie would have sense enough to not aspire to appeal to that audience and yet it did.

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