'Lorax' follows Seuss mishmash

There's one way in which Theodor Geisel was kind of like the reclusive Once-ler in "The Lorax": When people came knocking to adapt his books into movies, he didn't want to be bothered.

Throughout his life, Dr. Seuss shunned the efforts of Hollywood studios to put his fantastical creatures on the big screen. Two decades after his death -- and on what would have been his 108th birthday on Friday -- Hollywood has gone where the grickle-grass grows for the fourth movie, "The Lorax," one of his most colorful and most topical entries.

So far, Hollywood is batting 1-for-3 on Dr. Seuss, having struck out critically with the first two -- "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat" -- but getting back in good graces with the animated "Horton Hears a Who!"

While he dismissed the idea of actors portraying his characters, Dr. Seuss was a fan of animation, and, in 1942, he agreed to a 10-minute short of "Horton Hatches the Egg" as part of the Looney Tunes series.

Then, in 1966, he co-produced "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," a 26-minute adaptation of his 1957 book for CBS that was directed by Chuck Jones, of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck fame, and narrated by horror legend Boris Karloff. It's gone on to be a classic, ranked by TV Guide as the No. 1 holiday family special.

He collaborated with Jones on two more TV specials, "Horton Hears a Who!" (1970) and "The Cat in the Hat" (1971), which is now a PBS series. There were other animations in the '70s and '80s, including one of "The Lorax" in 1972.

It wasn't until he died in 1991, at 87, that Hollywood got its paws on the Seuss canon, thanks to his widow, Audrey Geisel, who approved a live-action film version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." And that's where the story begins:

Despite being in the capable hands of director Ron Howard, the "Grinch" movie managed to validate Geisel's concerns. The idea of a Grinch hating Christmas and stealing presents from kids wasn't too scary when he was a bright green cartoon character, but Jim Carrey's Grinch crossed the line into Tim Burton territory. The folks in Whoville, with their upturned noses, were only slightly less creepy.

The movie earned a 53 percent "rotten" rating at the Rotten Tomatoes website, but the appetite for the Grinch and for Seuss on the big screen made it the second-highest-grossing Christmas film of all time worldwide behind "Home Alone."

"Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat" (2003)

Dr. Seuss' signature character was entrusted to first-time director Bo Welch and Mike Meyers, coming off the success of two "Austin Powers" movies. What we got was the Cat in the Hat getting hit in the crotch with a baseball bat. That went along with the hyperactive pacing, slapstick violence and sly drug and sexual references.

The film scored a rotten 11 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $100.4 million, failing to meet its $109 million budget until the video release. Audrey Geisel disliked the film so intensely that she declared it would be the final live-action attempt at one of her husband's movies.

Carrey would get a second shot at Seuss, but this time in the form of an elephant who clings to a tiny dust speck that contains the entire town of Whoville.

Blue Sky Studio ("Ice Age") and former "Toy Story" animator Jimmy Hayward provided eye-popping and childlike animation and a moral of loyalty and responsibility. "Horton," which also starred Steve Carell and Carol Burnett, was the first critical success of the three, rating a 79 on Rotten Tomatoes. It was considered the first to capture the "warmhearted" spirit of his books. Audiences responded positively, too. It was made for an estimated $85 million and grossed $154.5 million, before going to DVD.

The first full CGI production of his films, it created a template for Seuss in Hollywood that's been used for "The Lorax" and is sure to be followed in years to come.