11 November 2005
Work for the Happy Fingers Method must go on!
Today, kiddies, we are going to talk about Bill's tribute to the 5000 fingers of dr. t (sic)a site devoted to one of the quirkier children's films ever released.
Way back in 1953, Stanley Kramer somehow ended up producing a musical comedy which, even fifty-two years later, looking back, has some rather ... odd ... moments and lyrics.
I mean, one wonders how the producer of films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Judgment at Nuremberg, Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, The Caine Mutiny, The Wild One and High Noon, just to take a quick sampling of his IMDB page, wound up involved with a film in which the title character's big number goes:
Come on and dress me, dress me, dress me in my finest array
‘Cause just in case you haven’t heard, today is doe-me-doe day!
Dress me in my silver garters, dress me in my diamond studs
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!
I want my undulating undies with the maribou frills
I want by beautiful bolero with the porcupine quills
I want my purple nylon girdle with the orange-blossom buds
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!
Come on and dress me, dress me, dress me in my peek-a-boo blouse
With the lovely inner lining made of Chesapeake mouse
I want my polka-dotted dickie with the crinoline fringe
For I’m going doe-me-doing on a doe-me-doe binge!
I want my lavender spats, and in addition to them
I want my honey-colored corset with the herringbone hem
I want my softest little jacket made of watermelon suede
I want my long persimmon placket with the platinum braid
I want my leg-of-mutton sleeves, and in addition to those
I want my cutie chamois booties with the leopard-skin bows
I want my pink brocaded bodice with the floofy, fuzzy ruffs
And my gorgeous bright-blue bloomers with the monkey-feather cuffs
I want my organdy snood, and in addition to that
I want my chiffon Mother Hubbard lined with Hudson Bay rat
Dress me up from top to bottom, dress me up from tip to toe
Dress me up in silk and spinach, for today is my doe-me-doe day!
So come and dress me in the blossoms of a million pink trees
Come on and dress me up in liverwurst and camembert cheese
Dress me up in pretzels, dress me up in bock-beer suds
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!.
Well, he did. If you haven't already guessed, the film is The 5000 Fingers of Dr T, starring Peter Lind Hayes, Hand Conried, Tommy Rettig and Mary Healey.
And written by, with lyrics by and set designs by Dr Seuss.
Can you say "Extremely odd", children? Sure... i knew you could.
("Undulating undies"? Eeew. I think we sold those in the porn store where i worked once.)
Anyway, if you remember the film, you either love it or hate it -- there's very little middle ground here, i've found.
And one of the people who falls far far over on the "loves it" side, i discovered some time back, is "Bill" -- i can't find his last name on his website anywhere, but his AOL screenname leads me to suspect it may be "Seivadj" or some variant thereof
Bill is the man behind an almost spookily obsessive "Dr T" website; one of his projects is to a "director's cut" of the movie, which was apparently massively cut and re-sequenced by the studio (there are something like six or seven songs which were recorded bu didn't wind up in the film., and Kramer once said that they had like 2:20 of material but the studio demanded a film under 1:45); he's also trying to put together a documentary on the film.
If there's anything you need or want to know about "Dr T", it's either here or dropping Bill a line will put you on the right path -- or it's just not out there.
That is, it's here if you can find it -- i have to say that it's about the most cluttered and difficult-to-navigate sites i've ever encountered. And that includes my own.
But for "Dr T" fans, it's the only game in town...
(Incidentally, the best film version of any Seuss book i've ever seen is a ten-minute short of Horton Hatches the Egg, done in 1942 at Warner Bros' "Termite Terrace"(!), directed by Bob Clampett and featuring work by Chuck Jones and Bob McKimson; it's available on a DVD Dr Seuss compilation that Warner put out in 2003 to attempt to cash in on the anticipated popularity of Dr Seuss films after the live-action and Grinch and Cat in the Hat abhominations. ¶ 2:54 PM
Way back in 1953, Stanley Kramer somehow ended up producing a musical comedy which, even fifty-two years later, looking back, has some rather ... odd ... moments and lyrics.
I mean, one wonders how the producer of films like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Judgment at Nuremberg, Inherit the Wind, On the Beach, The Caine Mutiny, The Wild One and High Noon, just to take a quick sampling of his IMDB page, wound up involved with a film in which the title character's big number goes:
Come on and dress me, dress me, dress me in my finest array
‘Cause just in case you haven’t heard, today is doe-me-doe day!
Dress me in my silver garters, dress me in my diamond studs
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!
I want my undulating undies with the maribou frills
I want by beautiful bolero with the porcupine quills
I want my purple nylon girdle with the orange-blossom buds
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!
Come on and dress me, dress me, dress me in my peek-a-boo blouse
With the lovely inner lining made of Chesapeake mouse
I want my polka-dotted dickie with the crinoline fringe
For I’m going doe-me-doing on a doe-me-doe binge!
I want my lavender spats, and in addition to them
I want my honey-colored corset with the herringbone hem
I want my softest little jacket made of watermelon suede
I want my long persimmon placket with the platinum braid
I want my leg-of-mutton sleeves, and in addition to those
I want my cutie chamois booties with the leopard-skin bows
I want my pink brocaded bodice with the floofy, fuzzy ruffs
And my gorgeous bright-blue bloomers with the monkey-feather cuffs
I want my organdy snood, and in addition to that
I want my chiffon Mother Hubbard lined with Hudson Bay rat
Dress me up from top to bottom, dress me up from tip to toe
Dress me up in silk and spinach, for today is my doe-me-doe day!
So come and dress me in the blossoms of a million pink trees
Come on and dress me up in liverwurst and camembert cheese
Dress me up in pretzels, dress me up in bock-beer suds
‘Cause I’m going doe-me-doing in my doe-me-doe duds!.
Well, he did. If you haven't already guessed, the film is The 5000 Fingers of Dr T, starring Peter Lind Hayes, Hand Conried, Tommy Rettig and Mary Healey.
And written by, with lyrics by and set designs by Dr Seuss.
Can you say "Extremely odd", children? Sure... i knew you could.
("Undulating undies"? Eeew. I think we sold those in the porn store where i worked once.)
Anyway, if you remember the film, you either love it or hate it -- there's very little middle ground here, i've found.
And one of the people who falls far far over on the "loves it" side, i discovered some time back, is "Bill" -- i can't find his last name on his website anywhere, but his AOL screenname leads me to suspect it may be "Seivadj" or some variant thereof
Bill is the man behind an almost spookily obsessive "Dr T" website; one of his projects is to a "director's cut" of the movie, which was apparently massively cut and re-sequenced by the studio (there are something like six or seven songs which were recorded bu didn't wind up in the film., and Kramer once said that they had like 2:20 of material but the studio demanded a film under 1:45); he's also trying to put together a documentary on the film.
If there's anything you need or want to know about "Dr T", it's either here or dropping Bill a line will put you on the right path -- or it's just not out there.
That is, it's here if you can find it -- i have to say that it's about the most cluttered and difficult-to-navigate sites i've ever encountered. And that includes my own.
But for "Dr T" fans, it's the only game in town...
(Incidentally, the best film version of any Seuss book i've ever seen is a ten-minute short of Horton Hatches the Egg, done in 1942 at Warner Bros' "Termite Terrace"(!), directed by Bob Clampett and featuring work by Chuck Jones and Bob McKimson; it's available on a DVD Dr Seuss compilation that Warner put out in 2003 to attempt to cash in on the anticipated popularity of Dr Seuss films after the live-action and Grinch and Cat in the Hat abhominations. ¶ 2:54 PM
