This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!
Ralph Bakshi is best known for his adult animation FRITZ THE CAT. But in 1989 for Turner TV, he mixed his sensibilities with those of pre-school icon Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss. The result is one of the best Seuss adaptations ever made, and sadly one of the most overlooked. Even Seuss himself felt this was the most faithful adaptation of his work. Considering he adapted the script, he of course had a big part in that.
A grandfather (Charles Durning, TOOTSIE) tells his grandson a tale of the Zooks, who live on the other side of the wall and butter their bread butter side down. Yikes! So as a patriotic Yook, the grandfather in his younger years patrolled the wall keeping an eye out for any upside down buttering behavior. During a patrol, a Zook uses a slingshot to break the grandfather’s tough-tufted prickly snick-berry switch. This begins a race for bigger and bigger weapons to threaten the other race with.
This clear critique of the Cold War was banned from many school libraries. So it’s no surprise that it took until 1989 to be adapted into animation. Supervising director Bakshi brings a great visual flare to the tale. The style is still Seuss, but it’s filtered through Bakshi, which gives the story more uneasiness and rawness. This is Seuss at it’s twisted best. Like other adaptations of his books, Geisel wrote the lyrics to the songs too. In the past those songs didn’t always work, but here they flow with the story nicely, adding to the tone well. As for the narration, Durning’s voice just fits.
Dr. Seuss and Bakshi don’t seem like an obvious team, but for THE BUTTER BATTLE BOOK, the material matches the collaborators. Though we know where the tale is going pretty early on, the ending couldn’t be more poignant. This Seussian fable not only holds up well; it still contains the power from the original book, which is as relevant today as it was then.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
