In the wake of the success of Gerald McBoing-Boing, Geisel submitted a live-action storyline for The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. in 1951.
Geisel followed it up with a 1200-page script, with "themes of world dominance and oppression coming out of World War II."
Geisel relocated from La Jolla, California, to Los Angeles during filming to "enable him to be more involved in the production."
His influence on set design and choreography is also evident in the film.
Although Geisel was unaware of it at the time, his film production had landed in the middle of a bitter feud between film producer Stanley Kramer and the head of Columbia Pictures, Harry Cohn.
Thus the shooting of the film was fraught from the start. Kramer had been forbidden from directing the movie himself by Cohn, and instead had appointed a studio journeyman, Roy Rowland.
It also did not help that Cohn interfered constantly with the production by sending voluminous and unwanted notes to Kramer and Geisel.
Hans Conried was enthusiastic about the role, saying in retrospect, "I had never had any such part before, never have since and probably never will again.
We rehearsed for eight weeks before I was engaged to shoot for eight weeks, an extravagance that I as a bit player had never known ...
If it had been a success, with my prominent part in the title role, it would have changed my life."
Prior to release, a "preview version" was received poorly by a test audience
This prompted heavy cuts from the studio and a week of reshoots included a new opening scene.
Of the original 20 musical numbers filmed in their entirety, 9 were removed.
The removed songs still survive with the complete musical soundtrack.
The "preview version" featuring the removed footage is considered lost.
Columbia Pictures released the film a second time in 1958 with the whole elevator scene cut, under the title Crazy Music.
At the Hollywood premiere, the first patrons began to trickle out after 15 minutes.
After an hour it had become a tsunami.
The leading man Hans Conried was quoted as saying by biographer Suzanne Gargiulo, "At the end there was only one boy left and he was waiting for his mother to pick him up".
At the time it was released, the film received negative reviews from critics.
Bosley Crowther called the film "strange and confused" and said:
this [film] is not only abstruse in its symbols and in its vast elaboration of reveries but [is] also dismally lacking in the humor or the enchantment such an item should contain.
Geisel regarded the film as a "debaculous fiasco" and omitted mention of it in his official biography.
He even stated after the film "Hollywood is not suited for me and I am not suited for it."
Hans Conried reflected on the film's boxoffice failure in a 1970 interview with Leonard Maltin: "The picture never made its print money back.
It was comparable only to Wilson as one of the great money-losers of all time; it would stop conversation for some years at any Hollywood social gathering."
The film may have fared better over the years; as of April 28, 2022, it has a 82% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating.
The home media releases of the film have spawned many new reviews.
In 2001, Glenn Erickson wrote that the film was "another flop that has since gained the reputation of an artsy classic - a real cult film.
It's colorful, energetic, and indeed can boast fine work by a cadre of talented Hollywoodians.
But it's not very good."
Later critics were more enthusiastic.
In 2002, Peter Bradshaw said the film "has charm, a riotous imagination, and some very weird dream-like sets by production designer Rudolph Sternad and art director Cary Odell"; it's "surreal, disturbing, strong meat for young stomachs."
In 2005, Violet Glaze of the Baltimore City Paper called the film "refreshingly tart and defiant for a children's film, its space-age-by-way-of-Caligari world parks right on the delicious side of creepy.
Bring the kids, especially the smart ones."
In 2008, Dennis Schwartz wrote that it was "probably the best children's fantasy film ever made by Hollywood—even if it's rambling."
Jello Biafra named it his all-time favourite movie in a 2013 interview.
PHOTOCOPY 8 x 11 is in good condition, please see pics