The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss
Trailer
Synopsis
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss reimagines Dr. Seuss characters as puppets, hosted throughout its run by a shape-shifting Cat in the Hat: a trickster narrator in season one, a nurturing playhouse host in season two. Episodes dramatize classic Seuss stories -Horton the Elephant, Yertle the Turtle, the Grinch- inside virtual sets generated by Jim Henson's Creature Shop rather than traditional animated backdrops. The show's second-season format, built around a host character welcoming daily visitors into his home, became a direct template for the Henson Company's later hit "Bear in the Big Blue House."
Context & Trivia
Unlike Dog City, which blends puppets with traditional 2D animation, here the characters are physical hand and rod puppets interacting with computer-generated backdrops built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, an early use of "virtual sets" in Henson children's television. The role of the Cat in the Hat changed performers between seasons: Bruce Lanoil played him in 1996-97 as a trickster, while Martin P. Robinson took over in 1998 with a gentler tone. The puppeteer roster included names who would become central to later Henson and Broadway projects, including Stephanie D'Abruzzo, John Tartaglia and Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, all cutting their teeth here before "Avenue Q" or "Sesame Street." Several of the show's "Whozit" puppets were later reused in "Mopatop's Shop."
Puppeteers
Bruce Lanoil, Martin P. Robinson, Anthony Asbury, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, John Kennedy, Kathryn Mullen, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Tim Lagasse, Pam Arciero, Bill Barretta, Joey Mazzarino, Kevin Clash, Jerry Nelson, John Tartaglia
Puppet companies
Jim Henson Productions · Nickelodeon
Direction
David Gumpel
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