THE WHOLE SEUSS

While discussing cartoon trivia at a brunch yesterday (with friends Keith Scott, Will Ryan, Harry McCracken, Amid Amidi, Milt Gray, Tom Knott, Mark Kausler and Mark Evanier) I was surprised to learn that many of my friends hadn’t seen, nor heard of, a great new book on Dr. Seuss I bought a few weeks ago. So I made a note to mention it here.The Seuss, The Whole Seuss and Nothing But The Seuss A Visual Biography of Dr. Seuss by Charles D. Cohen ($35.00 Random House) is a must-have for Suess fans and animation buffs. The book discusses Seuss minutiae and traces Ted Geisel’s inspirations and influences. This includes much about his work on Private Snafu, The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T, and Gerald McBoing Boing.The book is very well written and researched – he even draws a line between Krazy Kat, Felix and Dick Whittington’s Cat (illustrated by showing the Iwerks film’s one sheet poster with Wittington’s cat, in a hat, a pose almost identical to Seuss’ CAT IN THE HAT). The book is loaded with lavishly illustrated with rare and oddball Suess cartoons and ads. There is much information on Geisel’s Hollywood writing – including the lost 1931 Flit films Put On The Spout and ‘Neath The Bababa Tree(both released by Warner Bros.). If you have any interest in this subject – I urge you to buy this volume. It’s great!