The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss is an American live-action/puppet television series based on characters created by Dr. Seuss, produced by The Jim Henson Company. It aired from October 13, 1996 to December 28, 1998 on Nickelodeon. It is notable for its use of live puppets with digitally animated backgrounds, and in its first season, for refashioning characters and themes from the original Dr. Seuss books into new stories that often retained much of the flavor of Dr. Seuss' own works.
In many respects seasons one and two of the program are very different shows. The two seasons have completely different intro and outro credit sequences and songs reflecting their differing orientations. The virtual settings seen in this show are created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
Each episode is a self-contained story based on Dr. Seuss characters such as Yertle the Turtle and Horton the Elephant. The unifying element is that the stories are introduced and commented on by The Cat in the Hat (performed by Bruce Lanoil) who serves as host of the show. Occasionally The Cat in the Hat himself appears in the episode, reprising his role as a bit of a trickster, as in his original eponymous books (ex. episode 1.6: "The Simplifier").
Season one is notable for hewing closely to many of the themes of the original Dr. Seuss stories which often had a strong moral overtone. As a result, some episodes have distinctly dark or sinister elements which, like some Dr. Seuss books, may not be appropriate for younger children.
For season two the show was reworked along the lines of a more traditional children's program. The Cat in the Hat (now voiced by a much less gravelly sounding Martin P. Robinson) lives in a playhouse with his Little Cats A through Z and the often flustered Terrence McBird (performed by Anthony Asbury). Aside from the residents of the house there are usually visitors based on Dr. Seuss characters. Each episode revolves around a theme (such as family, health, art) and features one or two songs about the theme. The action shifts between The Cat in the Hat and what is going on in his playhouse and shorter related story interludes, which he shows to the audience by means of his "Wubbuloscope." These story vignettes take place in various locations like:
- Seussville - A contemporary city where Sarah Hall Small and her family lives.
- Jungle of Nool - A jungle that is home to Horton the Elephant, Morton the Elephant-Bird, Jane Kangaroo, Junior Kangaroo, Yertle the Turtle, the Wickershams, and the Sneels.
- Kingdom of Didd - A Rennasiance-like kingdom which is ruled by King Derwin.
- Mount Crumpitt - Home of the Grinch and his dog, Max.
The tone of season two is much lighter, no doubt the result of bringing in a number of comedic writers such as Adam Felber and Mo Rocca. The Cat in the Hat is no longer a trickster and instead has assumed the role of a friendly and enthusiastic host who is helpful, nurturing and sweet. Although this revised format only lasted one season before the show ended, the format was recognizably carried over into Jim Henson Productions' next children's program Bear in the Big Blue House which was aired on the Disney Channel.
Cast[]
| Image | Character | USA | Mex | Ger | Hun | Isr |
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Cat in the Hat | Bruce Lanoil | Mario Filio | |||
| Martin P.Robinson | ||||||
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Terrence McBird | Anthony Asbury | Eduardo Tejedo | |||
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Little Cat A | Kathryn Mullen | ||||
| LeslieCarraraRudolph | ||||||
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Little Cat B | Stephanie D'Abruzzo | Eduardo Garza | |||
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Little Cat C | John Kennedy | ||||
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The Grinch | Anthony Asbury | ||||
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Max | Stephanie D'Abruzzo | ||||
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Yertle the Turtle | Anthony Asbury | ||||
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Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose | Anthony Asbury | Achim Buch |
Character Gallery[]
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