The OTHER Dr. Seuss

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The 50th Anniversary of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch stole Christmas is being celebrated with the release on DVD of the famous 1966 animated TV special that was narrated by Boris Karloff. A review is here. And an Amazon link is here.

The DVD is sure to be a blockbuster and will no doubt show up in many stockings this holiday season -- and not just those of kids.

But before the Grinch stole Dr. Seuss, he had ANOTHER career.

Dr. Seuss's cartoons promoted WWII efforts

And, fortunately for us, that career is documented online.

Through a good part of World War II, Theodor Geisel, under his pen name 'Dr. Seuss', drew cartoons in support of the war effort for the New York newspaper PM, a leftish daily solidly behind President Roosevelt's New Deal programs and strongly in support of the war effort.

FDR was lauded for his efforts against RED TAPE,
as were others throughout the war

Besides cartooning in support of War Bond drives and against waste, red tape and bureaucracy, Dr. Seuss made jabs at anti-Semitic attitudes and at isolationists who resisted entry into and prosecution of the war -- the New York Daily News being a favorite target.

He targeted isolationist sentiment,
including that of the the NY Daily News

A creature of his time, he also was not beyond caricaturing the Japanese and Germans, and his cartoons have been criticized for portraying Japanese-Americans unfairly and in a racist manner.

His renderings of Japanese and Japanese-Americans are now seen as racist

Touring this online exhibition will remind a visitor of several things -- how differently and effectively American public opinion had been mobilized in support of THAT war, and how much ground has been gained in understanding and accepting America's diversity since those days.

At what cost, though, is not a part of this particular story.

-- Dan Damon

Links of interest --

Review: "Dr. Seuss's 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas', 1966 animated TV special"

Amazon: "How the Grinch stole Christmas" - Newly remastered edition of 1966 animation, Boris Karloff, narrator. Released 11/21/2006.

Online Exhibit: "Dr. Seus goes to war"

2002 NPR segment: "How The Grinch Stole Christmas"

Wikipedia: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" -- Spoiler warning!

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