Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video

This is the real display of how the 12 books are posted before one book comes to the screen to be viewed.

Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video a.k.a. Random House's Beginner Book Videos is a 30-40 minute video series where the creators from Random House Inc. start a project by bringing Dr. Seuss' books to a video premiering series with the help of other production companies such as Praxis Media and later Greenlight Media, and the Dr. Seuss books are used as being on screen by computer animation and characters of the pages are moving at some point as the story from the book is being narrated. The creators of Praxis and Greenlight Media used both Beginner books and Bright and Early books.

There are also other books of Dr. Seuss that have been brought to video as well. However, these are not beginner books. These books have been brought to video premiering and have been presented as Dr. Seuss Video Classics. Dr. Seuss Video Classics views other books to video such as Horton Hatches the Egg, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book, If I Ran The Zoo, Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose and more of others.

The First 4 Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video Tapes published.

On the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video series' intro, a male voice says, "Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video". The scene is depicted as a blue screen and the words "Dr. Seuss" and "Beginner Book Video" appear in yellow. Then the scene cuts to 12 books by Dr. Seuss. And when the 12 books appear, you see layers of characters (12 characters in total --1 for each book) fly to their books which then makes the book glow and become double layered. (The characters --who fly to their books-- are portraited, usually matching their portraits to the front cover of their books.) When the book glows (and gets "double-layered"), the title of the book gets revealed.

This is the order (out of the 12 books altogether):

For the first book -- out of 12 -- you --for the first book -- see the Red fish flying into her book (titled One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish). She -- the Red Fish -- is the first character (of the 12 characters altogether) to get into her book.
For the second book -- out of 12 -- you --for the second book -- see the Boy -- with the Wocket in his pocket -- and they --if one means "both the boy and the Wocket" -- fly into their book (titled There's a Wocket in My Pocket!). He (the Boy with the Wocket) is the second character (out of 12) to get into their book.
For the third book, you see Mr. Brown -- in full view with from head to toe -- flying into his book (titled Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?). He (Mr. Brown) is the third character to get into his book.
For the fourth one, you see The Foot Guy fly into his book (titled The Foot Book). He (The Foot Guy) is the fourth character to get into his book.
For the fifth, you see The Cat in the Hat's son -- named Young Cat (in full view with his arms and feet seen) -- flying into his book (titled I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!). He (Young Cat) is the fifth character to get into his book.
Sixth, you see a character -- with the letter "A" (in red) on his head (known as "The 'A' Creature") -- fly into his book (titled Dr. Seuss's ABC). He (the "A" creature) is the sixth character to get into his book.
Seventh, you see Hooey the Parrot flying into his book (titled Oh Say Can You Say?). He (Hooey the Parrot) is the seventh character to get into his book.
Eighth, you see two birds -- who were walking on a blue hoop -- flying into their book (titled Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!). They (the two birds) are the eighth character to get into their book.
Ninth, you see two brother and sister yellow bear cubs -- that being, Pinocchio and Pollyanna (and they like to hop on their father Pop and on his stomach) -- and they fly into their book (titled Hop on Pop). They (Pinocchio and Pollyanna) are the ninth characters to get into their book.
Tenth, you see Mr. Fox -- in full view there (the front of his paws he uses as hands have been copied to be made into his back feet, while his back side and tail was drawn painted in) -- and he flies into his book (titled Fox in Socks). He (Mr. Fox) is the tenth character to get into their book.
Eleventh, you see Marvin K. Mooney flying into his book (titled Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now!). He (Marvin K. Mooney) is the eleventh character to get into his book.
Finally -- and for the twelfth (and final) book -- you see The Cat in the Hat flying into his book (titled The Cat in the Hat Comes Back). He (the Cat in the Hat) is the twelfth and final character to get into their book.

The -- final -- character -- that being, the Cat in the Hat -- flies into his book, gets his layer for the book (The Cat in the Hat Comes Back), and the said book (The Cat in the Hat Comes Back) glows. After he --the Cat in the Hat -- flies into his book, gets his layer, and his book revealed, the medley/song (along with the intro) decomposes and ends. After the medley/song decomposes and ends, all the books become double layered and they glow on the blue screen. Then a book will come to the screen as a narrator tells you the title and reads the story. This usually results for the book matching the title of the Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video's VHS.

Similarly, for the videos (Dr. Seuss's ABC, Hop on Pop, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back), the end credits play the same song. However, as the credits roll, the 12 books (in the background) are still. But the song (which is played in the end credits) is unchanged from the intro version. The differences between the intro and end credits versions are, instead of the characters flying into their books and making the title for their books glow --as they did in the intro-- for the end credits version, the 12 books are still, they remain one layer as the credits roll (despite the medley being the same), and they are grayed (to make room for the end credits) and semi-blurred. The theme song/medley (which is the only exception in the end credits version --compared to the intro version) remains the same without any functionality changes.

So before the credits roll, the books revert back to having one layer. (That is, after the final book out of the 3 in the four videos -- Dr. Seuss's ABC, Hop on Pop, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, and The Cat in the Hat Comes Back). The books' glowing layers become undone and go back to one layer. Then the end credits roll (but still play the same theme song --and it remains uncut from the intro version).

On newer Beginner Book Videos which feature The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and other stories, the original intro of the character layers flying to their books is used again for the fifth and sixth time, however, the medley has changed similar to the original medley from the last four first Beginner Book Videos. As the medley ends, instead of one of the books on display coming to the screen, a book off screen comes from the side on screen instead to be viewed.

On another Beginner Book Video, which features "I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today! and other stories," the original intro and medley is not used at all, except the title "Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video," but the title is in a lighter blue background then a silhouette from the book "The Shape of Me and Other Stuff" comes and moves the title and the four books appear I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today!/The Shape of Me and Other Stuff/Great Day for Up!/In a People House along with one of each character from the books not flying in but flying out.

Other books that were not part of Dr. Seuss's work have been brought to Random House's Home Video as well known with some of the beginner and bright and early books by P.D Eastman and Stan and Jan Berenstain. This includes Are You My Mother? (which includes 2 more books -- Go, Dog. Go! and The Best Nest), The Bears Christmas (which includes 2 more books -- Inside, Outside, Upside Down and The Bike Lesson), and The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone (which includes 2 more books -- Bears in the Night and The Bear Detectives). (That is, aside from The Cat in the Hat -- the main character of the Dr. Seuss Beginner books The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!-- appearing on the back cover of their books.)

Dr. Seuss Beginner Book Video[]

Dr. Seuss's ABC plus I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
Hop on Pop plus Oh Say Can You Say? and Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! (mistakable VHS/DVD covers as Hop on Pop plus Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! and Oh Say Can You Say?)
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish plus Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! and The Foot Book
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back plus Fox in Socks and There's a Wocket in My Pocket! (mistakable VHS/DVD covers as The Cat in the Hat Comes Back plus There's a Wocket in My Pocket! and Fox in Socks)
I Am NOT Going to Get Up Today! plus The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, Great Day for Up!, and In a People House
The Cat in the Hat Plus Another Seuss Story (mistakable VHS/DVD covers and VHS tapes as The Cat in the Hat plus Maybe You Should Fly a Jet! Maybe You Should Be a Vet!)
Green Eggs and Ham Plus Other Seuss Stories (mistakable VHS/DVD covers and VHS tapes as Green Eggs and Ham plus Ten Apples Up on Top! and The Tooth Book)
2 Dr. Seuss Favorites: Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat
Dr. Seuss Video Favorites

Dr. Seuss Video Classics[]

The title episode of video was narrated by a superstar, much like Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories, a video series that was also released in 1992-1993.

Circus Classics - Horton Hatches the Egg/If I Ran the Circus
Treasury Classics - Yertle the Turtle/Gertrude McFuzz/The Big Brag
Holiday Classics - How the Grinch Stole Christmas!/If I Ran the Zoo
Big Animal Classics - Horton Hears a Who!/Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose
Lucky Classics - Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?/Scrambled Eggs Super!
Bedtime Classics - Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book/Hunches in Bunches

P. D. Eastman Beginner Book Video[]

Are You My Mother? plus Go, Dog. Go! and The Best Nest

The Berenstain Bears Beginner Book Video[]

The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone plus Bears in the Night and The Bear Detectives
The Bears Christmas plus Inside, Outside, Upside Down and The Bike Lesson

Read-to-Me DVD[]

2 Dr. Seuss Favorites Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat

Credits[]

Go here: The Random House Book Video Crew

Voices[]

Trivia[]

During the making of this project, the Praxis Media team has had piles of his books to use. They would use two books of the same story each to, edit copy, paint paste and drawn filling in the scene for the video in hopes of everything to be just like it was in the book.
The collaboration of Random House and Praxis Media took place Palace Production Center in Norwalk, CT where the project started.
Staci Neri, the cutout layout artist for Praxis Media, stated that if the creators made a mistake in cutout and layout from the book to animation book it had to be completely redone. The work of this project was very specific to accomplish. When the project is done it becomes post production and cannot be appeal to be fixed after when everything has officially been concluded. If the project wasn't good enough the creators would have to start the entire book/video over again. But the reason they did the animation the way they did it was because he Dr. Seuss didn't want his artwork re-done anymore. He wasn't happy with the movies that had been made previously such as, The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, The Hoober-Bloob Highway, Dr. Seuss on the Loose, Horton Hatches the Egg (1942 film), Horton Hears a Who!, etc. He wanted them to be his artwork exactly he stated himself. He didn't want the full animation in the project and if he did that would mean he would have to sign over the rights to those books he wrote himself.
In these videos, some of the characters you seen in the book may or may not have their eyes opened or closed and they may or may not do movement. The characters in the books are now used as a layers for the pages of the books made into scenes by computer editing, painting and drawing. There are times the backgrounds on the video are different from the book or modified such as trees, houses, walls being a bit closer or some certain parts that they can't get in or draw and color and paint in what has been cut off from the book. Sometimes the character/layer is seen with another object in hand or a face replaced with the same one whether he or she is facing from right to left or the other way around or they use another face or the same character and put it on that person on that page or if another hat is worn and so forth.