Dr. Seuss On the Loose (Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories)
CBS, 1973
Voices of Allan Sherman, Hans Conried, Paul Winchell, and Bob Holt
Directed by Hawley Pratt
Music by Dean Elliot; Lyrics by Dr. Seuss
The Story: Since this is based on a Seuss anthology, we actually have three stories:
The Sneeches: The Sneeches (Winchell and Holt) are yellow bird-like creatures who live on the beaches. Sneeches who have green stars on their bellies snub those who don't have them, until Sylvester McMonkey McBean (Holt) turns up with his "fix-it-up machines" that can add and remove stars. Now Sneeches are running all over the beaches, trying to one-up the other crowd...at least until they spend all their money, and McBean leaves with his machines and a lesson learned.
The Zax: A north-going Zax (Conried) and a south-going Zax (Conried) meet in the middle of the desert. They will not budge and let the other pass for anything...even when the world continues around them.
Green Eggs and Ham: Sam-I-Am (Winchell) will do anything to convince a man (Winchell) to eat his favorite dish. After following him everywhere from a house to a box to a car to a train to a boat, the man finally learns that it can be fun to try something new, even if it looks strange at first.
The Animation: Same as the other Dr. Seuss specials of the 1970's and 80's. It's bright and colorful sketchy line drawings that closely resemble the Seuss books these specials came from. They have the most fun with all the details in Green Eggs and Ham. Some of the background details here are really funny, from Sam introducing the animals to what happens to the boat.
The Song and Dance: Some of Dr. Seuss' most unusual characters can be found in these stories. Kudos to the voice actors, especially Holt and Winchell, for managing to make each and every character sound different. Conried does equally well narrating the Zax and giving us an idea of how stubborn they are. And I actually like the idea of them doing three stories, as per the original Dr Seuss On the Loose book. We get a lot of variety, from the Sneeches' race and class parable to the super-short Zax to the purely comic Green Eggs and Ham.
Favorite Number: We open with the Cat In the Hat explaining about "The Sneeches" as he prances on their beaches. "Twinkle, Twinkle Lovely Star" is the Sneeches' first number as the star-bellied Sneeches lord their tummy badges over the ones that don't have them, and the others wish they could join in. The star-bellies sing "A Toast" to their stars at their first marshmallow roast. When everyone reprises it in the end, it's now about how they've learned that what matters is what you're like inside, not the stars on the outside.
The Cat's introduction to "The Zax" is the only song in that super-short segment. He also gives us a brief introductory song for "Green Eggs and Ham." The chorus gets the number heard throughout the special, "He Will Eat Them." The man finally reprises it in the end with the animals as he finally gives those pesky emerald-hued breakfast food a try.
Trivia: Allan Sherman's last role. He died a month after this first aired.
The only Seuss special to feature more than one story.
What I Don't Like: Ham is slightly more violent than the original story, and while there's not nearly as much padding as there would be in the heavily revised Netflix TV show, there's still quite a bit of random slapstick. Green Eggs and Ham is also not from the original Dr. Seuss On the Loose book. The other two stories in that book are "Too Many Daves," about a mother who wonders what else she could have named her 23 sons, and "What Was I Scared Of," about a child afraid of moving pants. They may have been too short and/or odd to adapt.
The Big Finale: Another favorite Seuss special. Check this out with your kids, especially those who are starting to learn about race and class relations.
Home Media: Easily available in every format, both on its own and as part of Seuss collections. Can currently be found on DVD paired with Pontoffel Pock and The Butter Battle Book.
Pontoffel Pock, Where are You? (Pontoffel Pock and His Magic Piano)
ABC, 1980
Voices of Wayne Morton, Joe Raposo, Hal Smith, and Sue Allen
Directed by Gerald Baldwin
Music and Lyrics by Joe Raposo
The Story: A "schnook" by his own admission, Pontoffel Pock (Morton) would do anything to get away from his family's decaying home and his failed dill pickle factory job. The fairy MacGillicuddy (Smith) hears his plea and gives him a magic piano that can take him anywhere at the press of a button. He first visits the mountain country Groogan, but his showing off wrecks so much havoc, they shoot paint at him instead.
After he begs MacGillicuddy for a second chance, he heads to the desert town of Casbahmopolis. He hasn't been there more than two minutes when he falls for the "eyeball dancer" Neefa Feefa (Allen), a performer for the sultan who also hates her job and wants to get away from it all. He rescues Neefa, only to drop her on his escape. When he gets hopelessly lost, the fairies all chase after him to return the piano, but he just wants to get back to his Neefa.
The Animation: Same deal here. This one may be even more colorful, as per the around-the-world setting. Groogan is vaguely Swiss, with its lederhosen and Germanic accents, while Casbahopolis gives us purples, deep blues, and brilliant golds straight out of Arabian Nights. Some nice character animation too, especially on the fairies and Neefa Feefa.
The Song and Dance: The nifty animation and Raposo's catchy songs are the order of the day here. Smith has a field day as both the fussy fairy who can't believe anyone could make such a mess of a flying piano and the weary fairy-in-chief after they've been chasing Pock for the last five minutes. This is also one of the more action-packed Seuss stories, with everyone chasing Pock and him trying to first rescue, then find his Neefa again in the second half.
Favorite Number: We open with "Pull On the Pull 'Em" as Gil Gickler, the Master Dill Pickler (Raposo) explains how his job works. After the disaster at the factory, Pock admits "I Had Failed" and introduces "The House My Family Left Me." MacGillicuddy introduces "That Wonderful Piano" when he answers Pock's request.
"Welcome to Groogan" say the townspeople, until Pock swooping around in "I'm Flying Free" makes a mess of their home. After that, it's "Load Up that Goomy Gun" and shoot that show-off down! Neefa Feefa complains about her own job dancing for the sultan in "Optic Coptic (The Eyes Song)." Everyone gets involved in the title song as the fairies chase Pock, Pock tries to figure out how to get back to Eefa, and Eefa wonders why he hasn't returned to her yet. We end with a reprise of "Pull On," this time with Eefa joining in as well.
Trivia: The last Dr. Seuss special done by Freleng-DePatie Enterprises before they were sold to Marvel Comics and became Marvel Productions.
Nominated for Outstanding Animated Program at the Emmys in 1980.
What I Don't Like: Kind of a strange story, even for Seuss. Pock's so much of a "schnook," he comes off as a little bland or annoying other than his showing off to the Groogans. The story can get a little jumbled and hard to follow near the end, when everyone is chasing Pock. The Arabian stereotypes during the Casbahopolis sequences might be slightly offensive to some people.
The Big Finale: There's enough worth checking out here for those who are fans of Seuss or want to try a different Seuss with their elementary school-age kids.
Home Media: As mentioned, this is on disc paired with Dr. Seuss On the Loose and The Butter Battle Book. The only place it can currently be found solo is on YouTube.
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