Dr. Seuss' Oh, The Places You'll Go! Is Becoming An Animated Movie From Jon M. Chu
Jon M. Chu truly is on fire these days, isn't he? The director behind "Crazy Rich Asians," "In The Heights," and the highly anticipated film adaptation of "Wicked" has been attached to yet another high-profile film adaptation of a beloved classic: this time, Dr. Seuss' "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" Deadline reports that Dr. Seuss Enterprises and Warner Bros. Animation Group are planning to bring the characters and story perennially referenced in commencement speeches to life in a new movie set to debut in 2027. While Chu has not yet directed an animated film, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. hosted creative pods for branded material like Dr. Seuss and Hanna-Barbera which Chu participated in and expressed interest in directing animation.
The film is being made in conjunction with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions who have been drawn upon to adapt the book. This will be Bad Robot's first adventure into feature animation, with J.J. Abrams serving as a producer in addition to Bad Robot's Head of Motion Pictures, Hannah Minghella. Before joining Bad Robot, Minghella ran Sony Animation and emphasized a desire to add feature animation to the Bad Robot Banner upon her hiring.
The choice for "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" to be an animated film is at the request of Audrey Geisel, Seuss' widow, who made the decision to not to allow any new live-action adaptations of her husband's work following the massive critical failure of the live-action version of "The Cat in the Hat" starring Mike Myers.
What is Oh, The Places You'll Go! About?
First published in 1990, "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" has been hailed as one of Seuss' all-time greats, tackling themes that stay relevant long after childhood. Written in a similar rhyming style to Seuss classics like "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Cat in the Hat," "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" is a motivational story about a character known only as "You" as they make the decision to leave town. "You" travels through many different places and towns before ending up at "The Waiting Place," the place where everyone is always just waiting for something to happen. Instead of sitting and waiting, "You" takes control of their own journey and keeps moving forward, inspired by the thought of discovering new places, things, people, and experiences.
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
"Oh, The Places You'll Go!" is the final book of Dr. Seuss, and the animated musical film adaptation will follow a young adventurer as they explore the wide range of feelings and encounters that come along with living life and venturing out on our own for the first time.