The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: There Is Nothing to Fear In Here – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews



Some combinations are no brainers like putting peanut butter with jelly or wrapping bacon around a scallop. Tandems that you can never imagine being apart. Sometimes things that seem natural take plenty of time before they merge like Shaq in a Celtics uniform. Whose childhood wasn’t influenced by Dr. Seuss books and episodes of Sesame Street? Yet it took until the mid-’90s for a natural pairing of Dr. Seuss’ characters with the creative staff of the Jim Henson Company. The product of this creative marriage was The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss The series aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons. It brought the 2-D illustrations into the Muppet dimension. The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: There Is Nothing to Fear In Here promises “3 frightless episodes” so your kid won’t wake up screaming from nightmares.

“There Is Nothing to Fear In Here” opens with the little cats being extremely scared when the lights go out during a storm. The Cat in the Hat does his best to calm them down. Another segment features Sarah Hall-Small frightened of the noises in her closet. She thinks it’s a monster. Coincidentally the creatures in her closet fear she’s the monster lurking in the bedroom. “The Bug-Bludder Beast” lets Yertle the Turtle arrive in a land where the natives are fearful of a mysterious monster. They’ve never seen it. Yertle unwittingly plays the hero and becomes ruler of these people. But is the job really worth it? “Norval The Great” involves the boy Binky telling the adventures of his goldfish. It’s a whale of a tale that can’t fit in Norval’s fishbowl.

Of the three episodes, the first is the best. “There Is Nothing to Fear In Here” is shorter with three stories touching on the theme. The appearance of the Grinch adds to the entertainment fun. Ex-Daily Show correspondent Mo Rocca was on the writing staff of the show at this time. There are small adult jokes mixed with the kid humor. The last two episodes are completely devoted to the single storyline. All three are good little stories for little kids. Nothing is a major fright. The only screaming will come from turning off the DVD player.

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer gives detail to the fur on the various Seuss inspired puppets. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. Everything is clean since the puppets aren’t speaking into a boom microphone. The episodes are Closed Captioned.

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The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: There Is Nothing to Fear In Here finally combines the work of Dr. Seuss with Jim Henson’s Muppet skills. The episodes do not adapt the various books by Dr. Seuss. These are all new stories with familiar characters. The show works best when there’s several stories in an episode. The show makes sure kids are shocked by anything happening on the screen.


Lionsgate presents The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss: There Is Nothing to Fear In Here. Starring: The Cat in the Hat, the Grinch and Yertle the Turtle. Running Time: 72 Minutes. Rated: G. Released on DVD: October 5, 2010.



Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.