An excerpt from my script review for The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T which will be available 05/13/24:
1.) Marketability of the Idea
According to the initial post, this was the only project ever written and developed by Dr. Seuss.
(Probably with good reason, but that’s for the next section.)
It was still a time of big budget extravagant movies however, often with elaborate musical numbers, so was it worth taking a gamble on him as a screenwriter?
Dr. Seuss certainly had a few books published by then, but not most of the “big name” ones we’re most familiar with.
One of the main themes of this, being post WWII, is the warning signs of Dr. Terwilliker being very much like Hitler. There’s a lot of Nazi like tie-ins referenced in the story.
Honestly, and maybe this is because it’s not in his heyday, but our kids never really got into the books or stories.
Their favorite related book was one from the Dr. Seuss board book series, but written by Seuss’s protégé, P.D. Eastman, called Are You My Mother?
(With Go Dog, Go being a close second.)
I never really saw the appeal as it was mostly nonsense, but did enjoy The Lorax since that had a relatable story about not polluting that I could follow.
Along those lines, I remember Universal opening Islands of Adventure in Orlando one summer, with one of the “lands” being Seuss Landing.
It was okay to look at, but only a ride or two and I thought it was odd, considering two of the other areas were based around Marvel Superheroes and Jurassic Park.
Not being Disney, and having limited ideas that adapted to theme parks, maybe the Seuss IP was a cheap choice they could plug in.
(Odd choice similar to Toon Lagoon with very few characters that even I recognized. Let alone children today.)
My point is, I’m not surprised this didn’t do well, being both extremely expensive and either an audience that wasn’t ready for it, or simply didn’t want it altogether.
(Keep in mind Disney animated features were in the theaters for 15 years or so before this.)
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T Box Office Results
(Sorry no financials listed, but apparently it lost over a million dollars.)
Want EARLY access to our videos, uploads, and movie/script reviews? Members get them FIRST! Follow this link to our Discussion Forum.
