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Seuss On The Loose

By Ritu Upadhyay

Jim Carrey as the Grinch, with Taylor Momsen as Cindy-Lou Who.

Oh, the places we'll all go! Audiences are packing theaters to see the big-screen version of Dr. Seuss's classic tale How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Its sky-high ticket sales prove that the doctor is definitely back in-but not just at the box office. Seuss-mania is sweeping the country!

Another Seuss-y place to go is Seuss Landing at Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. There you can ride around with the Cat in the Hat. Last week in New York City, a full cast of Seuss characters marched onstage when Seussical the Musical opened on Broadway. Seuss's favorite cat is also set to star in his own movie.

Seussical's Cat in the Hat.

Behind this revival is the writer's wife Audrey Geisel, who devoted her life to caring for the beloved author. Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel, died in 1991. Since then, Audrey Geisel has made sure that anything related to his bouncy, rhyming stories stays true to what he wrote. Geisel says she never pushed to make a Seuss movie or Seuss products. Instead, others approached her with ideas. "It all comes to me," she insists.

Nothing goes to screen, stage or stores without her approval. She even met with actor Jim Carrey, who plays the Grinch in the movie, before filming started. When they met he didn't shake her hand. Instead, he spun her around, held her close and made a Grinch face. Geisel was sold.

Carrey grew up loving Seuss's holiday fable. "In a very simple tale, Seuss tells you a lot about human behavior," he says. "He tells you that no one is unreachable."

How would the good doctor have handled this Seuss-mania epidemic? "If Ted were here," Audrey Geisel told the Seussical cast, "his heart would have grown three sizes."

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