This Blu-ray/DVD features three Dr. Seuss cartoons that were originally aired on television. It includes the classic 1971 The Cat in the Hat, 1995’s Daisy-Head Mayzie, and 1975’s The Hoober-Bloob Highway. In addition, there is a sing-along option for The Cat in the Hat.
The Cat in the Hat: Two children are left home alone on a gloomy, raining day. There is nothing to do! Until a tall cat wearing a hat enters. The Cat in the Hat promises to give the children a fun time, but the children’s pet fish objects. For every thing the Cat in the Hat does, the fish has a reason to object. In a way, the fish is the moral compass for the children. Yet, the Cat in the Hat is the hero of this story, right? He is fun, unpredictable, and brings in light into the dark and dreary.
In a sense we are the children open to new ways of doing things and new ways of exploring faith development. Meanwhile the Church is the fish, stuck in its ways, its tradition, and its codes. The Cat in the Hat, then, is leadership within the faith community offering new ways of looking at things and new ways of approaching things . . . .like Jesus?
Daisy-Head Mayzie: Poor Mayzie McGrew. While sitting in class one day, a daisy starts to grow out of her head. Her classmates begin to tease and make fun of her, the Principal causes a big fuss about her condition, locking her in a room and calling everyone in town he can think of. An entertainer enters the mix and convinces Mayzie to join his traveling show. Despite her mother’s cries, Mayzie signs on because she “can be famous and have lots of fun.” Well, the fun and the money get old because they don’t offer Mayzie the love she so longs for. She leaves it all behind, but doesn’t go home, because she doesn’t think she would be welcomed. The daisy on her head convinces her that her family indeed loves her, and she returns home—the prodigal daughter—to her family’s open, forgiving, and loving arms. The Cat in the Hat narrates that the moral of the story is “Love means more than fame and glory.” We could add to that our divine Parent has open, forgiving, and loving arms for us, the prodigal children.
The Hoober-Bloob Highway:The traditional stork takes a back seat in this Dr. Seuss version of “Where did I come from?”. In this bizarre cartoon, the Hoober-Bloob is a God-like figure who sends infants down to Earth. It is quite a process, which includes giving the infant a chance to see where his life will lead, in a “This is Your Life, Unnamed Baby,” kind of way. After looking through a television-like screen, the baby is given a choice. He can accept that life and go to Earth, go down as an “other” (aka a different Seuss-like creature), or he can stay.
In this ’70s era, space-themed, origin of one’s life, humanity is able to choose if it accepts the life set before it or not. Humanity cannot change the outcome, it can only look ahead to see what will happen. The Hoober-Bloob tells the infant at one point, “Things move pretty fast down there. And at other times, it moves very slowly.” At another time, the Hoober-Bloob has to remind himself that he is “supposed to be neutral” when it comes to infants choosing whether they accept that life or not. Some hardship showed itself, and the Hoober-Bloob wanted to take that life back and give the infant a new one. I wonder how often God wants to do the same?
