The context behind Suessical

I know that a lot of people have mixed feelings about Seussical, but I think it is a really cool show. The reason I like it is because it is comprised of fifteen different Dr. Suess books. Some musicals are based on a book, but Suessical is based on fifteen! So instead of just telling one story, we get to tell fifteen. I love Dr. Suess so I thought I would talk about some of the books that inspired the show. First, the whole war on Whoville is from the book "The Butter Battle Book." The Butter Battle Book is one of my favorite stories because of it's deeper meaning. The Butter Battle Book is actually a story about the Cold War arms race. Within the story, the two sides of the the town are trying to accumulate more extreme weapons that ultimately leads to the Dr. Seuss equivalent of an atomic bomb. I really like the way Dr. Seuss talked about the war in his story. We all think it's silly that people would go to war over which way someone butter's their toast, and Dr. Seuss is commenting on how ridiculous war is in general. My other favorite Dr. Seuss book is the Lorax. In seussical, the Whos sing a verse about how the truffula trees were cut down. Truffula trees are from the story of the Lorax. I cannot watch the Lorax without wanting to cry. I think the story of the Lorax is so beautiful because it talks about greed and the consequences that come with it. If you do not know the story, basically an old man (the oncelor) tells the story to a young boy about how he cut down an entire forest of trees to build his company, then when his company fails he hits rock bottom. At the end of the story he gives the boy a seed and starts to regrow the forest. The Lorax also has one of my favorite quotes "unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." I think the story of the Lorax is so important because it is inspiring to the millennial generation. So what I am trying to say is that even though Suessical seems a little childish, the meaning behind Dr. Suess books go so much deeper than the funky characters, or made up places. Dr. Suess is a way to convey larger ideas to children, but still make it fun.