Writers and studios over the years have tried with varying levels of success to adapt Dr. Seuss’s iconic early reading books to longer and more involved stories. Some like Horton Hears A Who starring Jim Carrey as the lead elephant were decent, while others like Mike Myers’ Cat In The Hat are….not so decent.
So I’m pleased to say Netflix’s extension of Green Eggs and Ham into a thirteen-episode TV series not only respects the general theme of the books, it does so in a way that allows the audience to genuinely connect to the characters regardless of their age. Honestly, this might be the best Seuss adaption to date, both because of its sharp writing and its unexpectedly high-quality animation, which is theatrical-level good.
And yet they crafted a story out of one of the simplest Seuss books. Sam-I-Am, voiced by Adam Devine, is head over heels for the oddly colored meal like he is in the book, and they’re rejected by the previously unnamed Guy-Am-I, in a very good performance from Michael Douglas. The catch is they’ve got bigger issues on their plates- notably that Sam’s smuggling away an exotic animal called a chickaraffe he named Mr. Jenkins, and Guy is a struggling inventor who- through a comedic series of events- winds up inadvertently tagging along to help.
The duo, coincidentally along with overprotective mom Michelle (Diane Keaton) and her daughter E.B (Ilana Glazer), try to get Mr. Jenkins somewhere safe before the duo of McWinkle and his sidekick Gluntz (Jeffrey Wright and Jillian Bell), the self-proclaimed B.A.D.G.U.Y.S, capture it- or the wealthy businessman Snerz (Eddie Izzard) adds it to his collection.
Funny enough, this is the second time this year that Eddie Izzard’s played a short, extremely rich antagonist who searches for exotic animals to boost their status amongst the elite. Snerz is probably the more entertaining overall, though his role in Abominable as Mr. Burnish probably has a more definitive character evolution.
Guy’s various rejections of Sam’s favorite meal are cleverly tied into the events that happen throughout their quest. When the duo hitches a train on the run, Douglas insists “I will not eat them on a train”. He will not eat them with an egg-obsessed fox named Michael (Tracy Morgan), he won’t eat them in the rain, nor will he eat them with John Turturro’s crazed bounty hunter Goat who’s more than willing to murder them for the chickaraffe.
Directors Piero Piluso and Lawrence Gong’s atmosphere for this show is perfectly tailored for how kids think. All of the fun activities in this world are gleefully over-the-top, such as the wild carnival E.B convinces her mother to take her to (there’s some nice animation when they bond on a gravitron ride), and the mundane adult affairs are depicted as calculatingly dull (Michelle’s bean-counting and Guy’s curiosity about the paint-watching industry).
This also extends to the visuals, which have the kind of whimsical touch the original illustrations had. The budget for each episode apparently goes into multi-million dollars, and boy does it show in how uncannily smooth the movements of these characters are, both in facial expressions and body language.
Though Guy and Sam have distinctly different personalities, we discover they’re both equally lonely, and are far better off together despite how much Guy finds Sam to be a nuisance initially. This is where the extended runtime helps, because there’s plenty of time for not just the main dup but a number of side characters to get nice character development- which can be both silly, like in the case of the B.A.D.G.U.Y.S as McWinkle’s blue fur grays in patches when he gets angry (which is often), and some rather nuanced interactions (both by the standards of kids’ animation and live-action stuff) between Michelle and Guy.
I should note that once it gets to the reason why Sam-I-Am has such an affinity for the titular dish, it’s kind of a gut punch. The lighting in the scene and score add a lot here, and Devine’s voice performance sounds like he’s on the verge of tears. This is a pretty wacky show all things considered, but you can expect plenty of sincere heart beyond the comedy.
If you’ve got young children, I really can’t recommend this show enough, but Green Eggs and Ham is genuinely witty and affectionate regardless of how old you are. The care put into each episode is evident, so I’m not surprised at all this show is getting another season. If you’ve served yourself a viewing, as always head to Official_FAN on Twitter and let us know your feelings on it!