The Doctor Is in . . . Costa Mesa : Original Drawings From Seuss Classics Explore Theodor Geisel’s Procedures

Dr. Seuss--the Grinch?

Not a chance, that’s a cinch!

Not by a mile, not by an inch!

On the other hand, signage for the “Seuss Is Loose: Original Drawings From Four Classics” exhibit at the Laguna Art Museum’s satellite in the South Coast Plaza mall notes more than a passing resemblance in the wide-eyed stare and curly eyebrows of the Grinch and those of his creator, Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss.

And remember these immortal words of the Grinch? “Why for 53 years I’ve put up with it now, I must stop this Christmas from coming! But how?” The late Geisel was 53 when he wrote “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”!

Coincidence? Who in Who-ville’s to say?

Adam Lipsius of New York, for one. He has a book about Geisel in development with Duke University Press, and he served as a research adviser to Laguna Art Museum curator of education Margaret Maynard in preparing this show. Lipsius doubts that the Grinch was Geisel’s alter ego.

“Many of Geisel’s close friends note that the Grinch was the same age and that Geisel said on a number of occasions, ‘I’m part Grinch,’ ” Lipsius acknowledges. “But the people who knew him best said that, while he liked to fancy himself a Grinch, at the end of the day, deep down, he was more of a Horton, or Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose.”

Not a moose, nor a goose, at “Seuss Is Loose.” Not under a rock, not under the clock.

There are, however, original drawings from “Cat in the Hat Comes Back,” “Happy Birthday to You!” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” to be replaced Jan. 9 by “Horton Hears a Who!” The show, according to curator Maynard, is intended to give people a feel for the creative process by comparing original doodles with pages as they appeared in print and with the super-slick cels used in Chuck Jones’ animated versions.

In sketches for “Happy Birthday to You!” for instance, Seuss penned “whether your name is George, Helen or Fred,” but the names that ultimately appeared were “Nate, Nelly and Ned.” The sketches are in pencil, colored pencil and type (complete with typos) from the manual typewriter Geisel never gave up.

A series of family programs called “Seuss on Saturdays” has been slated for most Saturdays throughout the show, which ends May 5 (see accompanying schedule).

“The show is not meant to be an in-depth look at Ted Geisel the man, or a thorough retrospective--the San Diego Museum of Art did that,” Maynard notes. “I was interested in something parents could easily share with kids.

“I was fascinated by what obviously is a labor-intensive process. The books appear so simple and straightforward. Part of Geisel’s genius, the same genius mind that comes up with wonderful poems and drawings, is that it looks effortless. [Through the exhibit] you see that he labored over every single syllable and aspect of a drawing--color, character of line, choosing between the words the and a . . .

“Still, I took the same attitude as Mark Twain with ‘Huck Finn’--that anyone who tries to make anything serious or academic out of this should be taken out and shot.”

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Some of us can’t help ourselves. It should be noted that the exhibit’s 70 pieces are on loan from UC San Diego’s Mandeville Special Collections Library; a biography, “Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel” by Judith and Neal Morgan, was published by Random House this year.

Lipsius won’t go so far as to call himself a Seuss scholar.

“I’m an aspiring Seuss scholar,” he says with a laugh, “studying at the temple of the good doctor. But there is a burgeoning school of children’s literature study and critical analysis in America, and in terms of Dr. Seuss, people are just beginning to appreciate some of the subtexts.

“The books that appealed to me at first were the ones that actually had political overtones or undertones, works written before World War II at a time when the country did not know whether to be alone in the world or join in the cause against fascism.

“There are messages about getting involved, and about loyalty, for instance, in ‘Horton Hatches the Egg’ from 1940 and ‘The King’s Stilts,’ which came out in 1939 but wasn’t as popular. Seuss would implant his messages very, very subliminally.”

Children’s author and illustrator Maurice Sendak writes in his introduction to “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss” that Geisel, a friend, more than once dismissed Sendak’s theories about the underlying meanings of Seuss books as “wacky.” (Sendak suggests that his own psychoanalysis in the 1950s may have been to blame.)

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Though Geisel began writing for children in 1937, huge success didn’t come until 1955, when a publisher sent him home with a list of 225 words and directed him to write a book using only those words. Dr. Seuss at first complained bitterly that the list “had no adjectives! It was like trying to make a strudel without any strudel.” The result was “The Cat in the Hat.”

Though the Seuss output spans half a century, Lipsius calls it “practically a third career: Geisel began as a gag writer, then went into advertising and was phenomenally successful. He created a campaign that lasted three times as long as the Energizer bunny--Flit Insecticide was the leading insecticide in the country when he got through with it.”

Last year, Geisel’s widow granted Random House the rights to interactive CD-ROM versions of several classics, ensuring that children well into the 21st Century will benefit from Seuss’ takes on life: “I am lucky to be what I am. Thank goodness I’m not just a clam or a ham, or a dusty old jar of sour gooseberry jam.”

And what adult isn’t tempted to find deeper meaning in this line, also in the show?

“When it ends you’re much wiser and richer and fatter, and the bird flies you home on a very soft platter.”

On Dec. 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. at his gallery at 3636 E. Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, Chuck Jones, director of the animated film “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” will host a holiday party in honor of the Grinch. Jones will sign artwork, new Grinch cels will be released and wine and cheese will be served. Free, but reservations are requested. (714) 723-1900.

* What: “Seuss Is Loose.”

* When: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday till 7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., through May 5.

* Where: The Laguna Art Museum satellite gallery in the South Coast Plaza mall, 3333 Bristol St., Suite 1000, Costa Mesa.

* Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to the Bristol Street exit and head north.

* Wherewithal: FREE.

* Where to call: (714) 662-3366.

* ART LISTINGS, F25

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SEUSS ON SATURDAYS

Besides the following, programs for Dec. 2; Jan. 27; Feb. 17 and 24; March 16, 23 and 30, and May 4 will be announced later. All events will take place in the Laguna Art Museum satellite gallery at the South Coast Plaza mall in Costa Mesa.

The schedule:

* Dec. 9, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Storytelling workshop with Linda Pruitt. $5 preregistration required.

* Dec. 16, 2:15 to 3 p.m.: Storytelling with Debra Weller, founder and director of the South Coast Storytellers Guild. Free.

* Jan. 6, 2:15 to 3 p.m.: Storytelling with Poli Rizco. Free.

* Jan. 13, 2:15 to 3 p.m.: Storytelling with Nancy McQuillan. Free.

* Jan. 20, 2:15 to 3 p.m.: Storytelling with Ryan Longacre. Free.

* Feb. 3, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Storytelling/art workshop with Poli Rizco. $5 preregistration required.

* Feb. 10, 2:15 to 3 p.m.: Storytelling with Jim Lewis. Free.

* Mar. 2, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Book signing with Judith and Neil Morgan, authors of “Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel.” Free.

* Mar. 9, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Storytelling workshop with Jim Lewis. $5 preregistration required.

* Apr. 6, 2:15 to 5:45 p.m.: Art workshop with Grace Amemiya, who will show children how to make Dr. Seuss pop-up cards for Easter. $5 preregistration required.

* Apr. 20, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Storytelling workshop with Nancy McQuillan. $5 preregistration required.

* Apr. 27, 2:15 to 3:45 p.m.: Media literacy workshop with Cox Communications. Topic: How to “read TV” and understand its images and messages. Free.