The Hoober-Bloob Highway

This is a strange idea among other Dr. Seuss concepts, but I think that its simple animation and music are very entertaining. Though this short film will rarely receive credit for being a masterpiece, it reflects the genius of Dr. Seuss and continues to impress me. I watch it on occasion, having owned it from a very young age, and I can say without hesitation that it is an important contribution to the Dr. Seuss collection. One thing about it that impresses me is how this is not a well known piece of work among the prolific productions of Dr. Seuss, and yet it shows a quality storyline and assembly of characters. I recommend it for young children, who are certain to be enchanted by its wonderful and quirky style.

Dr. Seuss used many of his books to address political issues: resistance to authoritarianism (The Cat in the Hat), discrimination (The Sneetches), commercialism (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), the environment (The Lorax) and the arms buildup (The Butter Battle Book). "The Hoober-Bloob Highway" isn't based on one of his books, but retains his style of humor. It addresses the challenges that one will face in the modern world. Of course, it does all this through the use of music, impressive animation, and cool anapestic pentameter.

It's not Dr. Seuss's greatest production, but still quite fun. I haven't seen any of the 21st century adaptations of Seuss's work, and I don't have any desire to (in fact, after seeing the live-action "Cat in the Hat", his widow refused to allow any more live-action movies based on his books).

Seen this on MeTV Toons as part of their "Tia the Season for Toons" holiday lineup that included other Dr. Seuss cartoons such as "The Sneetches", "The Lorax", and "Daisy Head Maysie". I never really seen this one but it was interesting. A baby before deciding to go to Earth as a human, gets educated on how life would be like as a human. It shows that sometimes it can be tough, but there's also good things that happen in life, not only the bad things. A great wonderful cartoon by Dr. Seuss, as creative as many of his work.

This was at least superficially about the birth process--though it has nothing to do with biology and follows no other established mythology. Because of that, I don't really know what the author originally intended when he wrote it. Seuss stories tend either to have a clear message, such as the pro-environmental "The Lorax" or "Green Eggs and Ham," a plea for open-mindedness, or they are relatively simple exercises in creative language, like "Marvin K. Mooney, Would You Please Go Now?" This one, however, fits into neither model. The narrator and main character, Mr. Hoober-Bloob, is in charge of sending new babies down the Hoober-Bloob Highway, a long twisting ramp, to Earth to be born. A particularly reluctant subject needs to be coaxed; scenes shown from his life make up most of the action. I guess one could say this is a show about individuality, but the plot is really too scattershot even to pin it down that much. That said, this special is as well-drawn and voiced as any of the Seuss shows; in other words, this isn't an inferior knockoff like the sequels to "The Cat in the Hat" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It's just difficult to characterize. It is, however, quite entertaining if one doesn't expect anything especially profound.

Much of Dr Seuss' work were a large part of my childhood, and I imagine that is true for a number of people. The Hoober-Bloob Highway is not quite one of the classics among the animated TV specials(1966's How the Grinch Stole Christmas is still the jewel of the crown in this regard), but that is not knocking it in any way. The animation is very colourful and perfectly matches the offbeat nature of the story. The story itself is strange and quite oddball, but this is actually one of the cases where this strangeness can be classed in a good way, it is part of the charm of The Hoober-Bloob Highway and there are quite a few other Dr Seuss specials(Halloween is Grinch Night for example) that have a wonderful strangeness to them. The music has a delightful blend of whimsy and quirkiness, and the writing is simple and funny as well as thoughtful and well-intentioned. The characters engage throughout, and the voice acting is well and truly excellent. I particularly enjoyed Bob Holt's heartiness. All in all, as always with Dr Seuss thoroughly enjoyable and charmingly oddball. 9/10 Bethany Cox