The Butter Battle Book

Bakshi's oeuvre couldn't be more diametrically opposite than Dr Seuss's work: While the former is mostly known for his involvement in raunchy, adult-aimed animated films, Dr. Seuss remains to this very day as a wholesome icon of family entertainment, similar to Mister Rogers.

The ultimate result here is closer to Seuss's than Bakshi's, being a rather whimsical special with some darker undertones (In this case, a Cold War allegory) Apparently Dr. Seuss considered this animation the best adaptation of his books, and while I personally think that The Lorax short film from 1972 is more deserving of that title, this was an interesting watch anyway.

It would have been quite fascinating to see another collaboration of Bakshi and Dr. Seuss.

One more thing: The "Pg" rating (Assuming this is not a mistake from Imdb part) is ridiculous. This is pretty much a "G-rated" work, and honestly it feels more harmless than some G-rated Disney films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I guess Bakshi was totally right when he said the rating board hated him and his work.

I first saw this short upon purchasing a 4-DVD pack containing 'The Best of Dr Seuss,' 'Laura's Star,' 'Quest for Camelot' and 'The Powerpuff Girls Movie.' While it's not the best of 'The Best of Dr Seuss,' it still had rhyming narrative, Dr Seuss-illustration-type characters and a storyline that reminded me of that from the 'My Little Pony ' episode 'Ice Cream Wars.'

The animation style is sketchy, is not as smooth as that in 'Daisy-Head Mayzie' or 'Horton Hatches the Egg' and has a few lip-syncing flaws but the colours are bold. A lot of the musical score was military and although there were a few moments with no music at all, I liked the harmonious vocals of a group of female characters.. While a lot of the story was hard to follow, I liked the concept of one community spreading their bread butter-side down and the other butter-side up. The pace dragged on in the middle and while I found the ending abrupt, it was something of a cliffhanger as well.

Overall this is the weakest addition to 'The Best of Dr. Seuss' DVD but its most positive assets are the narration, the colours, the music and the nostalgic appeal it brings to a certain extent by reminding me of one of my favourite episodes of one of my favourite childhood cartoons. 7/10.

The Butter Battle Book was a controversial children's book for its time. Written and published during the Cold War, it was a parable about the arms race, and taught a heavy lesson. The book came out in 1984, and in 1989, the book was adapted into a television special.

So, in case you never read the book (or you are one of those people who hate reading books in particular), here's the story: The Yooks and Zooks live on two opposing sides of a wall, as they are divided based on one thing: A disagreement over how to eat bread. The Yooks eat it butter-side up while the Zooks eat it butter-side down. However, it does not take long for a Zook to torment Grandpa (voiced by Charles Durning) with a slingshot, which triggers an arms race.

This TV special is praised by Dr. Seuss as the most faithful adaptation of his works, and watching it, I have to agree. The TV special follows the book closely. The voice actors do a good job voicing the characters, and the animation is vibrant. Also, the songs put in are catchy, and fit with the show. This is one I recommend showing to your kids, as it is a good lesson on how easy it is for two sides to escalate into a war, even one that could spell the end the of the human race.

Many people say both the book and this short is to heavy for the kids but I think it's the best way to teach them about the evils of war. It doesn't give them any answers but instead ask question and make them think!

What great about this short is that not only it's a perfect adaptation of Seuss work but add's another learn by adding a musical number which show just how horrifying the concept of something like the Atom Boomb is.

Overall one of the best Seuss book and a fantastic animated short! It's very sad it's so undertated...

This was one of my favorite adaptations of a Dr. Suess story. On one side of a stone wall, there's the Yooks, the "proper" race that butters their bread "butter side up". On the other side live the Zooks, which (gasp!) butter their bread "butter side down". The two groups, whom appear to be the exact same with the exception of this one characteristic, have waged war with each other for countless years. The Butter Battle Book shows the story of an old man who was once patrolled the wall, protecting the Yooks from the terror of the Zooks. With the help of his advisor, things get worse and worse until he and Zooks' protector both bring out a device that will destroy both sides of the wall forever. Who's going to drop it first? We may never know...

I saw this when I was a child, and it left a lasting impression on me. These two races are fight over something as simple as this, and it shows what happens if we don't learn to get along and accept one another as each other. In a way, this story is the summary of every war that has happened: the fighting gets worse, and if we don't learn to get along, things are only going to get worse until both sides will destroy one another. Even though the story is very humorous, the moral is an important one. I'm hoping that one day I can share this story with my children and my grandchildren.