Dr. Seuss Day - Confessions of a seussidian seussaphile and geisel groupie.

If I were to identify whom might be my number one influence in my artistic endeavors, it most certainly would be Dr. Seuss aka Theodore Geisel.  While Walt Disney the man, not the brand is close, Seuss was a bit more of a rags to literary wealth success story, which for me embodies the American dream.   He single handidly  changed the way in which young people learn to read and in turn see the world around them.

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose." - Dr. Seuss

On this special day acknowledging Mr. Geisel, please allow me to geek out for a bit and share some of my favorite Seuss and Seussisms.

If you need a Seuss primer, may I recommend "In search of Dr. Seuss" which is a theatrical docu-comedy about his life, his characters and his view of the world.  There are wonderful live action enactments of his stories and a lot of entertaining backstory. One of my favorite pieces is Robin Williams reading of "The Cat in the Hat" with full on Seussical makeup and set dressing. 

"In Search of Dr. Seuss" available on CD and through streaming services like Netflix.

As a young boy, one of my fondest treasures was my plastic Cat in the Hat book rack and the Seuss book subscription that came with it.  Every month a new book would arrive by mail.  So it's not to much of a stretch to reveal that I collect Dr. Seuss memorabilia.  I'm a bit of a purist though, most of what I'm interested in are the items he, himself authorized.  I guess you could so original Seuss.  Although I do have some of the more recent things from the much more common licensing programs of the Grinch, Cat in the Hat, Horton and others.

Vintage puzzles, Cat in the Hat jack in the box and Ceramic Fish in cup pre- production prototype

Vintage book editions, puzzles and 70;s thermos.

Close up of The Great Traffic Jam puzzle by Seuss.

Grinch first printing, Seuss books, Horton and Lorax press images, stamps and memorabilia.

Seuss Cat in the Hat plush dolls, character dolls.

As a prop maker, I'd sure love to get my hands on some of the vintage pieces used in the mostly unknown Dr. Seuss' 1953 live action movie 5000 Fingers of Dr. T.  Falling stylistically and time wise  somewhere between the1939  Wizard of Oz and the darker 1971 Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory, this piece has classic big picture production glam, musical numbers and characters all with Dr. Seuss's twist, his slightly dark twist of course.  Viewers of the Seuss classic will undoubtedly recognize the voice actor of Disney's Dr. Hook, Hans Conreid in his live action forray as Dr. Terrwilliker, a mad man set on imprisoning children to become his 5000 finger human piano troop. 

Some of the cult classic and high level production scenes include a frightfully dark elevator ride, an orchestral prison, beard entwined roller skating twins and the hexing and vexing between Conried and the story's unwilling hero and plumber August Zabladowski. 

Throughout my Embellishments career I've had the pleasure of channeling Mr. Geisel in many a project.  I've created props, sets and floors for dance groups performing a Cat in the Hat and Grinch hybrid show and one portraying a Sneetch theme (2001 video below) of those who have and those who do not.   Pay close attention to the rolling yellow Sneetch on and off machine box I designed and engineered.  Oh, what fun!

10 years ago, I had the honor of designing a little girls Seuss inspired room.  Back then you dare didn't paint copyrighted characters or face being sued.  So, I had to rely on Seuss like props to get the point across.  The room's bed canopy, wall mount table, light fixture and corner shelf were my nod to Seuss.

These are copyrighted characters and sculptures created by Dr. Seuss- Theodore Geisel. Property of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, all rights reserved.

Hanging up in my studio is my "Nesting Head Doe".  She is a creation of mine that I used in a blog post about the difference between being inspired by someones work and copying it.  She was brought to life to illustrate the point.  Dr. Seuss created a series of "taxidermy" mounts and so I chose to create my own inspired by him.

" I made it my own with Seuss in my thoughts. A tribute to him, no stealing, no cops. Now look what I did, enjoy it you may. Now look what I did, be inspired this way. As you sit on your bumple, scratching your head, "what is it to be original, what is it I said?" It's a place in your heart, a place in mind, a place that all artists must honestly find. - A.C."

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She's a Bird Nesting Head Doe, a rare jungle treat. She carries bird eggs till their up, up on their feet. - Aaron Christensen

The Seuss inspired taxidermy taking shape.

Concept sketches for the nesting head doe.

These are somewhat literal examples of my Seuss worship.  Hopefully, I have turned his inspiration into action from my fingertips.  I know I see it in my work.
Dr. Seuss was with me when I was little dreaming big and he's still here while I'm dreaming little for my clients.  Happy Seuss day my friends.  Please share with me your Seuss revelations.