History Creator / DrSeuss

Most of his work liberally uses [[RhymesOnADime rhyming schemes]], [[MagicAIsMagicA illogical logic]], [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} fantastical buildings]], [[PerfectlyCromulentWord nonsensical vocabulary]], and very pretty illustrations. This, at the time, was fairly radical and the epitome of avant-garde, though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not by today's standards]]. Seuss was a lifelong inhabitant of Springfield, Massachusetts, and drew inspiration from his surroundings; for instance, his first published children's work, ''Literature/AndToThinkThatISawItOnMulberryStreet'', took place on [[WriteWhatYouKnow a real life street.]] (The book's events occur on the intersection of Mulberry and Bliss Streets, which both exist. However, the real-world versions never cross.). Although breaking into children's lit was a struggle at first, Dr. Seuss' infectious charm and imagination would have him hailed as the great 20th Century master of the form. The fact that he discredited the insipid ''Literature/DickAndJane'' primer series along the way while his energetically imaginative work set the standard for modern kids' book that kids wanted to read is a testament of that talent.

Most of his work liberally uses [[RhymesOnADime rhyming schemes]], [[MagicAIsMagicA illogical logic]], [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} fantastical buildings]], [[PerfectlyCromulentWord nonsensical vocabulary]], and very pretty illustrations. This, at the time, was fairly radical and the epitome of avant-garde, though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not by today's standards]]. Seuss was a lifelong inhabitant of Springfield, Massachusetts, and drew inspiration from his surroundings; for instance, his first published children's work, ''Literature/AndToThinkThatISawItOnMulberryStreet'', took place on [[WriteWhatYouKnow a real life street.]] (The book's events occur on the intersection of Mulberry and Bliss Streets, which both exist. However, the real-world versions never cross.) Although breaking into children's lit was a struggle at first, Dr. Seuss' infectious and sophisticated charm would have him hailed as the great 20th Century master of the form. The fact that he discredited the insipid ''Literature/DickAndJane'' primer series along the way while his energetically imaginative work set the standard for modern kids' book that kids wanted to read is a testament of that talent.

Most of his work liberally uses [[RhymesOnADime rhyming schemes]], [[MagicAIsMagicA illogical logic]], [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} fantastical buildings]], [[PerfectlyCromulentWord nonsensical vocabulary]], and very pretty illustrations. This, at the time, was fairly radical and the epitome of avant-garde, though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not by today's standards]]. Seuss was a lifelong inhabitant of Springfield, Massachusetts, and drew inspiration from his surroundings; for instance, his first published children's work, ''Literature/AndToThinkThatISawItOnMulberryStreet'', took place on [[WriteWhatYouKnow a real life street.]] (The book's events occur on the intersection of Mulberry and Bliss Streets, which both exist. However, the real-world versions never cross.) Although breaking into children's lit was a struggle at first, Dr. Seuss' infectious and sophisticated charm would have him hailed as the great 20th Century master of the form. The fact that he discredited the insipid ''Literature/DickAndJane'' primer series along the way while his energetically imaginative work set the standard for modern kids' book is a testament of that talent.

Most of his work liberally uses [[RhymesOnADime rhyming schemes]], [[MagicAIsMagicA illogical logic]], [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} fantastical buildings]], [[PerfectlyCromulentWord nonsensical vocabulary]], and very pretty illustrations. This, at the time, was fairly radical and the epitome of avant-garde, though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not by today's standards]]. Seuss was a lifelong inhabitant of Springfield, Massachusetts, and drew inspiration from his surroundings; for instance, his first published children's work, ''Literature/AndToThinkThatISawItOnMulberryStreet'', took place on [[WriteWhatYouKnow a real life street.]] (The book's events occur on the intersection of Mulberry and Bliss Streets, which both exist. However, the real-world versions never cross.)

Once they married and returned to the US, Seuss struggled to work professionally as a cartoonist and illustrator until he finally landed a steady gig as a cartoonist at the humor magazine, ''Judge''. At the magazine, Seuss often did ProductPlacement in his cartoons and mentioned the insecticide brand, Flit, by chance. That caught the attention of a wife of an executive at Flit and Seuss was commissioned to draw a long campaign of advertisements for Flit ("Quick Henry, the Flit!") that became a sensation for their humor, and established the trope of the CartoonBugSprayer. That got him an exclusive contract that would last 17 years that would get his family through the TheGreatDepression with relatively little hardship, which made children's literature one of the few other fields he could work in.

Most of his work liberally uses [[RhymesOnADime rhyming schemes]], [[MagicAIsMagicA illogical logic]], [[{{Bizarrchitecture}} fantastical buildings]], [[PerfectlyCromulentWord nonsensical vocabulary]], and very pretty illustrations. This, at the time, was fairly radical and the epitome of avant-garde, though [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny not by today's standards]]. Seuss was a lifelong inhabitant of Springfield, Massachusetts, and drew inspiration from his surroundings; for instance, ''And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street'' took place on [[WriteWhatYouKnow a real life street.]] (The book's events occur on the intersection of Mulberry and Bliss Streets, which both exist. However, the real-world versions never cross.)

Once they married and returned to the US, Seuss struggled to work professionally as a cartoonist and illustrator until he finally landed a steady gig as a cartoonist at the humor magazine, ''Judge''. At the magazine, Seuss often did ProductPlacement in his cartoons and mentioned the insecticide brand, Flit, by chance. That caught the attention of a wife of an executive at Flit and Seuss was commissioned to draw series of advertisements for Flit ("Quick Henry, the Flit!") that became a sensation for their humor. That got him an exclusive contract, which made children's literature one of the few other fields he could work in.

Seuss was the son of a family of brewers, which made the Prohibition era a tough period to deal with. He went to Dartmouth College where he became the editor of the campus humor magazine, ''Jacko'' until he was caught in a drunken incident that made the Dean expel from the editorship. An indifferent student, Seuss still went to Oxford when he made a pretense of getting scholarship, which forced his father to send him there on his money to save face. There, Seuss struggled with his studies until he met his future wife who noticed his idle fanciful drawing looked good enough to be professional.

Once they married and returned to the US, Seuss struggled to work professionally as a cartoonist and illustrator until he finally landed a steady gig as a cartoonist at the humor magazine, ''Judge''. At the magazine, Seuss often did ProductPlacement in his cartoons and mentioned the insecticide brand, Flit, by chance. That caught the attention of a wife of an executive at Flit and Seuss was commissioned to draw series of advertisements for Flit ("Quick Henry, the Flit!") that became a sensation for their humor. That got him an exclusive contract, which made children' literature one of the few other fields he could work in.

* HumansAreCthulhu: The protagonist of "What was I Afraid of?" from ''The Sneeches and Other Stories'' doesn't look human, but it's the same idea. He keeps running into a ghostly pair of Pale Green Pants which he is terrified of... Until the end, when he discovers that the pants are even ''more'' terrified of ''him''. (Unlike most examples of this Trope, the story has a happy ending, with the two of them coming to terms with the fears and becoming friends.)

* KarmaHoudini: The makers of the ''Horton Hears A Who'' film note in the commentary that he "wasn't in the comeuppance business." In fact, with the exception of ''Yertle the Turtle'', the unwelcome guests in ''Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose'' and the Kwuggerbug in ''Horton and the Kwuggerbug'', it's rare that ''any'' villain in any book gets what's coming to him or her. (Sylvester [=McMonkey=] [=McBean=] gets no comeuppance for conning the Sneeches. Of course, doing so would likely distract readers from the overall message.) His exception seemed to be [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard characters responsible for their own undoing]], such as Mayzie in ''Horton Hatches The Egg'' and Yertle The Turtle. {{Heel Face Turn}}s where characters repent and amend their actions also occur, most iconically the Grinch.

* ''Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!'' (1975; this was the one written under the "Rosetta Stone" PenName)

* CharacterisationClickMoment: * In the short story [[Literature/HortonAndTheKwuggerbugAndMoreLostStories "The Grinch and the Hoobub"]], the Grinch both looks and acts somewhat differently, posing more as a smooth-talking LovableRogue. It is his second appearance, ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', that solidifies the Grinch with his iconic personality as a curmudgeonly CardCarryingVillain with a HiddenHeartOfGold, though with his original trickster side maintained as a secondary trait.

* RhymesOnADime: This guy does it every time, and in no way that is a crime!

* ''[[Literature/{{Daisy-Head Mayzie}}]]'' (1995)

* ''[[Literature/Daisy-HeadMayzie]]'' (1995)

* ''Literature/Daisy-HeadMayzie'' (1995)

* ''Daisy-Head Mayzie'' (1995)

* AdaptationExpansion: All of the feature films and most of the TV specials tend to add more material to the plot to keep from running too short.

* ''[[Literature/TheFiveHundredHatsOfBartholomewCubbins The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins]]'' (1938)

Much of his work has been [[TheFilmOfTheBook movie-fied]], whether by animation or live-action. The only movie he himself made was ''Film/The5000FingersOfDrT''. He did collaborate with various directors (most famously his close friend Creator/ChuckJones) in adapting his stories for television, but again, those were TV specials, and not feature-length. When he passed away on September 24, 1991 due to oral cancer, the rights to all his stories and characters went to his widow, Audrey, and no adaptations could be made unless she approved it. After the dismal 2003 adaptation of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' soured her for the casting of Creator/MikeMyers (whom she was strongly against) and the adult jokes that clashed with the family friendly nature of the books, she declared that any future film adaptations of Seuss books must be animated. Audrey herself died on December 19, 2018, at the age of 98.

* TheMovie: ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'', ''The Cat In The Hat'' (twice), ''Horton Hears A Who!'', ''The Lorax''

* PerfectlyCromulentWord: Famously so. Remember, this is the man who wrote ''The Sneetches'' and ''Literature/BartholomewAndTheOobleck'' and ''Literature/TheresAWocketInMyPocket'' and....

* RhymesOnADime: This guy does it every time, and no way that is a crime!

* ControlFreak: Hoo boy. Absolutely ''everything'' about his books was under his precise, obsessive control: the font size, the spacing from the illustrations, and above all the colors. He was known to pitch a fit if the Random House printers weren't able to exactly duplicate even ''one'' of the colors he put in his drawings.

* CreatorProvincialism: Seuss lived in Springfield, Massachusetts for the entirety of his youth and drew inspiration from his surroundings. Springfield is mentioned in several of his works (most notably ''Mulberry Street'') and some of his illustrations are [[http://tinyurl.com/l8mo4e9 surreal versions of real places in town]]. Today the Springfield Museums have, in a courtyard behind the city's central library building, an outdoor shrine to him that includes statues of him and various characters, as well as a giant book statue containing the entire text of ''Oh, The Places You'll Go''. There is also a Seuss museum, which is largely a childrens museum but has sections in the upper floors with his papers and other work... though not his World War Two cartoons.