The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss

The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss is an American live-action/puppet television series based on characters created by Dr. Seuss, produced by The Jim Henson Company. It aired from October 13, 2001 on PBS Kids. It is notable for its use of live puppets with digitally animated backgrounds, and in its second season, for refashioning characters and themes from the original Dr. Seuss books into new stories that often retained much of the flavor of Dr. Seuss' own works.

Format
In many respects seasons one and two of the program are very different shows. The two seasons have completely different intro and outro credit sequences and songs reflecting their differing orientations. The virtual settings seen in this show are created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

Season One (2001 - 2003)
For season two the show was reworked along the lines of a more traditional children's program. The Cat in the Hat (now voiced by a much less gravelly sounding Martin P. Robinson) lives in a playhouse with his Little Cats A through Z and the often flustered Terrence McBird (performed by Anthony Asbury). Aside from the residents of the house there are usually visitors based on Dr. Seuss characters. Each episode revolves around a theme (such as family, health, art) and features one or two songs about the theme. The action shifts between The Cat in the Hat and what is going on in his playhouse and shorter related story interludes, which he shows to the audience by means of his "Wubbuloscope." These story vignettes take place in various locations like:

Seussville - A contemporary city where Sarah Hall Small and her family lives.

Jungle of Nool - A jungle that is home to Horton the Elephant, Morton the Elephant-Bird, Jane Kangaroo, Junior Kangaroo, Yertle the Turtle and the Sneels.

Kingdom of Didd - A Rennasiance-like kingdom which is ruled by King Derwin.

Mount Crumpitt - The Grinch lives here.

Season Two (2004 - Present)
Each episode is a self-contained story based on Dr. Seuss characters such as Yertle the Turtle and Horton the Elephant. The unifying element is that the stories are introduced and commented on by The Cat in the Hat (performed by Bruce Lanoil) who serves as host of the show.

Main characters

 * The Cat in the Hat - (performed by Bruce Lanoil in Season 2, Martin P. Robinson in Season 1) - The main character of the series. He starts out as a trickster, then becomes a more nurturing host.
 * Terrence McBird (performed by Anthony Asbury) - A bird that joins the main cast in Season 1.
 * The Little Cats - They debuted in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
 * Little Cat A (performed by Kathryn Mullen in Season 1, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph in Season 2) - Seen as one of the Cat in the Hat's sidekicks.
 * Little Cat B (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - Seen as one of the Cat in the Hat's sidekicks.
 * Little Cat C (performed by John Kennedy) - Seen as one of the Cat in the Hat's sidekicks.
 * Little Cat F (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - Seen in Season 1 at the Cat in the Hat's playhouse.
 * Little Cat N (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - Seen in Season 1 at the Cat in the Hat's playhouse. He/She appears in 'The Cat in the Hat Cleans Up His Act', ending his/her sentences with 'sir'.
 * Little Cat P (performed by Tim Lagasse) - Seen in Season 1 at the Cat in the Hat's playhouse.
 * Little Cat S (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - Seen in Season 1 at the Cat in the Hat's playhouse.
 * Little Cat Z (performed by Anthony Asbury) - Seen in Season 1 at the Cat in the Hat's playhouse. He is the smallest of all, and possesses a hipster quality, muttering "Zip zap" and the like.
 * The Grinch (performed by Anthony Asbury) - He appeared from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He likes to dampen other people's fun and pleasure.
 * Max the Dog (performed by Kathryn Mullen in Season 1, Stephanie D'Abruzzo in Season 2) - He appeared from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Max is the Grinch's long suffering dog.
 * Fox and Knox (performed by Bruce Lanoil in Season 2, Tim Lagasse in Season 1 and John Kennedy) - They appeared from Fox in Socks. Fox is lively and Knox is moody and easily annoyed. The only episode where Fox appeared without Knox is "The Sounds All Around."
 * Yertle the Turtle (performed by Anthony Asbury) - Yertle is a turtle who tries to be king of anything. He is a dictator.
 * Horton the Elephant (performed by John Kennedy) - He appeared from Horton Hears a Who! and Horton Hatches the Egg. He is steadfast.
 * Morton the Elephant-Bird (performed by Kathryn Mullen in Season 1, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph in Season 2) - He appeared from Horton Hatches the Egg.
 * Jane Kangaroo (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - She appeared from Horton Hears a Who!. She is very strict.
 * Junior Kangaroo (performed by Kathryn Mullen in Season 2, Tim Lagasse in Season 1) - He appeared from Horton Hears a Who! and is the son of Jane Kangaroo. By season 1, he and Morton have become friends.
 * Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose (performed by Anthony Asbury) - A moose who is still big-hearted. In this show, Thidwick is also the uncle of Morton the Elephant-Bird as seen since "The Birthday Moose."


 * The Wickershams - A family of apes who come from Horton Hears a Who! They are often employed by Jane Kangaroo and/or Yertle the Turtle. They are bullies.
 * Norval the Fish (performed by John Kennedy) - Norval would appear in different roles in the show. Around Season 1, Norval would work as an advisor to the King Derwin of the Kingdom of Didd.
 * Sarah Hall Small (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - A girl who is a resident of Seussville.
 * Matthew Katroom (performed by Anthony Asbury) - A boy who is a resident of Seussville and is good friends with Sarah Hall Small.
 * Sam-I-Am (performed by John Kennedy) - He appeared from Green Eggs and Ham. He appeared in Season 1 where he would often lend a hand to the Cat in the Hat. He is very persistent.
 * Pam-I-Am (performed by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - A female counterpart of Sam-I-Am and expert repair girl. The Cat in the Hat often uses the Pam Phone to call on her.
 * Sally Spingel-Spungel-Sporn (performed by Camille Bonora in "The Muckster" (2005), Stephanie D'Abruzzo since "Max the Hero) - She came from The Cat in the Hat Song Book.
 * King Derwin (performed by Anthony Asbury) - The King of the Kingdom of Didd who came from The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.
 * Princess Tizz (performed by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) - The daughter of King Derwin.
 * Milo (performed by John Kennedy) - A boy who resides in the Kingdom of Didd and serves as King Derwin's page.
 * The Yapper-Nap - A monster likes to takes nap in Seussville.

Other characters

 * Snark (performed by Fran Brill) - A pink bird that appears and lives in the Jungle of Nool. She is seen in Season 1. It is a recycled version of Youknow Bird from The Muppet Show.
 * Sneels (performed by Kathryn Mullen and Stephanie D'Abruzzo) - The sneels are green and pink furry creatures that live in the Jungle of Nool. They were previously used as background cave creatures in Fraggle Rock, but had different eyes here.
 * Mick Maputo Bird (performed by Anthony Asbury) - An Elvis Presley-themed bird that lives in the Jungle of Nool who is also seen in season 1. He sings "Out in the Jungle" in the episode "The Cat in the Hat's Indoor Picnic."
 * Whozits - Smaller counterparts to the Whos.

Episodes
Further information: List of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss episodes

Home video releases

 * The series was never systematically issued to home video on either VHS or DVD. Current DVD releases contain three episodes per disk and are a mix of episodes from the first and second seasons.

In 2015, the whole series was released on DVD from Shock Entertainment in Australia.

Syndication

 * PBS had premiered the series Since October 13, 2001.

Starz Kids & Family began carrying reruns of the series in 2018.