Seuss

"A Dr. Jeuss Christmas" arrives just in time to trash seasonal kids' fare, completely in rhyme. This ruthlessly renegade holiday spoof sends up Dr. Seuss as it raises the roof. The script is the work of an author unnamed, who riffs on Ted Geisel with wit that's untamed. On Katherine Morrison's weirdly warped set, it's one day to Christmas, but don't relax yet. Meet the degenerate Fitzgivens tots, who spout twisted verses and think scary thoughts.

In commemoration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, I sat on the floor of my 8-year-old daughter's room, before her bookcase. Theodor Seuss Geisel, who died in 1991, took the pen name Dr. Seuss when he was a student at Dartmouth College in the 1920s. He went on to publish more than 40 children's books. This March 2 is his 109th birthday, a day now celebrated as “Read Across America Day.” In our family, as in many others, Dr. Seuss has a special place. My daughter, the youngest of our three children, is the inheritor of our Dr. Seuss collection - from the bestselling “Green Eggs and Ham” to “Great Day for Up,” which is lesser-known but no less beloved in our family.

Movies always have monkeyed around with their source material -- a 1930 version of "Moby Dick" had Ahab kill the whale and return home to his girlfriend -- but it's hard to remember one that actually apologized before the fact for what it was about to do. The new 3-D animated "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" begins with that fuzzy orange creature, amiably voiced by Danny DeVito, stepping out in front of a theater curtain to announce "there's more to...

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” --Dr Seuss   The Mongol Rally, a 10,000-mile road trip from Britain to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, is about adventure, charity, fun and a rather large dose of danger. The launch party extravaganza was all about the fun side of this epic journey. The craziness. The camaraderie and the mad hatter costumes. Pure unadulterated silliness to be precise, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered, especially if the doctor is named Seuss.

It's so hot on the small sound stage where TNT's "In Search of Dr. Seuss" is shooting, you could probably cook green eggs and ham on the floor. It certainly isn't fit for a Cat in the Hat. Poor Matt Frewer, who plays Dr. Seuss' wily feline, is perspiring buckets attired in a furry cat suit and top hat. Kathy Najimy, who plays the inquisitive reporter in the documentary about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Dr. Seuss (a.k.a.

All in This Tea | Documentary on tea expert David Lee Hoffman. Beaufort | An Israeli army unit withdraws from Lebanon. Doomsday | A team of specialists enters a quarantined city. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! | Jim Carrey and Steve Carell head this adaptation of the children's classic. Dying to Live | Filmmaker chronicles his battle with a heart condition. Flash Point | Mixed martial arts saga. Funny Games | Michael Haneke remakes his disturbing 1997 film. Never Back Down | A teen turns to mixed martial arts.

It isn't easy being green ? especially when you're playing that shaggy, sneering holiday antihero, the Grinch. "This is one exhausting role," says Jeff Skowron, who stars in " Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. "But it's a lot of fun. " The musical, a 13-year tradition at the Globe, is based on the 1957 children's story about the conniving creature who tries to keep Christmas from coming to Whoville by swiping the town's presents, food and decorations.

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” --Dr Seuss   The Mongol Rally, a 10,000-mile road trip from Britain to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, is about adventure, charity, fun and a rather large dose of danger. The launch party extravaganza was all about the fun side of this epic journey. The craziness. The camaraderie and the mad hatter costumes. Pure unadulterated silliness to be precise, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered, especially if the doctor is named Seuss.

Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion animation legend whose work on "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms," "Jason and the Argonauts" and other science fiction and fantasy film classics made him a cult figure who inspired later generations of filmmakers and special-effects artists, has died. He was 92. Harryhausen died Tuesday in London, where he had lived for decades. His death was confirmed by Kenneth Kleinberg, his longtime legal representative in the United States. In the pre-computer-generated-imagery era in which he worked, Harryhausen used the painstaking process of making slight adjustments to the position of his three-dimensional, ball-and-socket-jointed scale models and then shooting them frame-by-frame to create the illusion of movement.

If the Walt Disney Studios logo were the only one on "Brave," this film's impeccable visuals and valiant heroine would be enough to call it a success. But "Brave" is also a Pixar Animation Studios film, and that means it has to answer to a higher standard. Pixar's dozen previous features, including classics like"Toy Story,""Up,""Wall-E, ""Ratatouille"and"The Incredibles,"have used subversive wit and singular characters to set a standard for computer-animated features that is the envy of the civilized world.

In one of the biggest box-office upsets of the year, a mustachioed orange cartoon creature brought down a brawny loinclothed space warrior at the multiplex. Last weekend's No. 1 film, "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax," claimed the top spot again. The animated 3-D environmental tale for families collected an additional $39.1 million, according to an estimate from distributor Universal Pictures. The movie has now grossed a robust $122 million in just 10 days of release. Meanwhile, the $250-million-plus "John Carter" debuted with a disappointing $30.6 million this weekend, as fanboys failed to gravitate toward the 3-D fantasy epic that has been under a cloud of bad buzz for months.

"John Carter,"Walt Disney Studios' $250-million-plus fantasy epic, is poised to disappear into a box-office black hole. The film's premiere this weekend will probably be upstaged by the nation's current No. 1, the animated 3-D hit"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. " The family film, which opened last weekend with $70.2 million, could bring in as much as $40 million this round, whereas pre-release audience surveys indicate that "John Carter" may sell only $20 million to $25 million worth of tickets over the three-day period.

"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" posted the biggest opening of the year at the box office over the weekend, evidence that moviegoers were eager for a family film. The animated 3-D environmental tale greatly exceeded industry expectations, raking in $70.7 million, according to an estimate from distributor Universal Pictures. Meanwhile, the weekend's other new release, a polar opposite for families, the R-rated party flick "Project X," collected a healthy $20.8 million. As a result of the robust ticket sales, receipts were up 26% as compared with the same weekend last year.

"Dr. Seuss' the Lorax" is primed to rake in lots of green at the box office this weekend. The 3-D animated film, based on a popular 1971 book by Dr. Seuss, could debut with as much as $50 million, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys. The weekend's only other new release, the low-cost, R-rated party movie"Project X,"will probably start off with a healthy sum of about $20 million. "The Lorax,"about an environmentally friendly creature who works to save trees, features the voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift.

Movies always have monkeyed around with their source material -- a 1930 version of "Moby Dick" had Ahab kill the whale and return home to his girlfriend -- but it's hard to remember one that actually apologized before the fact for what it was about to do. The new 3-D animated "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" begins with that fuzzy orange creature, amiably voiced by Danny DeVito, stepping out in front of a theater curtain to announce "there's more to...

"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. " So declares the environmentally minded title character in Dr. Seuss' children's book "The Lorax" — and in Universal Pictures' big-screen adaptation, opening Friday. It may not seem like a controversial message, but the studio and filmmakers are finding themselves squeezed between two groups of critics: those who complain the animated movie aims to "indoctrinate children and turn them into millions of little eco-warriors," and those who question whether the marketing and promotional tie-ins, including one for an SUV, are sufficiently eco-friendly.

Green eggs and ham, a cat in the hat and ... "unorthodox" taxidermy? If that last entry in the Dr. Seuss pantheon seems a tad "Silence of the Lambs" for your taste, take heart: Though "The Art of Dr. Seuss: A Retrospective and National Touring Exhibition" at the Sarah Bain Gallery in Brea promises to reveal the "secret" art of the famed children's book author, what's on display is simply grown-up stuff, not nightmare material. Not surprisingly, Dr. Seuss, a.k.a.

The American Library Assn. announced its 2013 book award winners Monday at its annual national conference, held this year in Seattle. While the best-known awards are the John Newbery Medal and the Caledecott Medal, there are dozens of awards, each of which helps librarians bring excellent books to the attention of young readers and their parents. The Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children was awarded to "This Is Not My Hat," written and illustrated by Jon Klassen.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Friday: Johnny Depp signs on to produce (and potentially star in) a Dr. Seuss biopic. ( The Hollywood Reporter ) Steve Jobs is best known for what he did with Apple, but his legacy can be seen in virtually every corner of Disney, including the resurgence of Walt Disney Animation Studios. ( Los Angeles Times ) Arnold Schwarzenegger opens the Austrian museum dedicated to his life. ( Reuters ) Hank Williams and ESPN's "Monday Night Football" part ways.

This season, in the land of children's books, there be giants and dragons, wimps and blue horses. First, about the giants. They're not imaginary ones. In fact, they're quite familiar. Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. New books from both classic authors are coming this month - Seuss' "The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories" (Random House) and Silverstein's "Everything on It: Poems and Drawings" (HarperCollins). "New" isn't exactly the correct word to use - "Bippolo Seed" gathers together stories that Seuss, who died in 1991, published in magazines in the 1950s; while Silverstein, who died in 1999, left behind numerous drawings and poems that make up the content of "Everything on It. " The books, aimed at ages 6 and up (Seuss)