History YMMV / DrSeuss

* AnimationAgeGhetto: After the failure of [[BleachedUnderpants his only venture into adult literature]], ''The Seven Lady Godivas'', Seuss became convinced that only children were able to appreciate his whimsical art and writing style, and that adults were simply "obsolete children" not worth his time. Considering he would become one of the most beloved children's authors in American history, this is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools one of the very rare instances of this trope turning out for the better]].

** Seuss' earlier cartoons contain many racist caricatures of black people, and, once the US entered World War II, Japanese people. There is even racist imagery in some of his children's books, to the point that on March 2, 2021, on what would have been his 117th birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that six of his children's books[[note]]''And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street'', ''If I Ran the Zoo'', ''McElligot's Pool'' ''On Beyond Zebra!'', ''Scrambled Eggs Super!'', and ''The Cat's Quizzer''.[[/note]] will no longer be published due to racist imagery found in them.

* {{Anvilicious}}: Seuss's Aesops are not delivered gently.
** Interestingly, he usually didn’t write his books with morals in mind. He preferred to let it grow out from the story, saying “A kid can see a moral coming a mile away.”

* SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}: ''The Lorax'' originally had the fish, chased out of their lake by pollution, say that "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie". But "People indeed cared a whole awful lot,/ And worked very hard, and better it got." (to paraphrase the book's ending) - and so Dr. Seuss removed the line.

* MisaimedFandom:
** ''Horton Hears a Who'' has been co-opted as support by many anti-abortion groups, who use the famous line: "A person's a person, no matter how small" as their rallying cry. In truth, the book was intended to be an allegory about the way Occupied Japan was treated. That line in particular was intended to send the message that regardless of the fact that we had just fought a war against them, treating them that way was simply not right, and would probably engender further resentment against the United States. The man himself was pro-choice and sued an anti-abortion organization for using the phrase on their stationary. His estate continues to fight back against the misinterpretation to this day.

** He was a strong supporter of Japanese-American internment during World War II. However, he would [[CreatorBacklash deeply regret this]] post-WWII, especially after befriending some Japanese people himself, to the point that he would write ''Horton Hears A Who'' as a [[TheAtoner form of atonement]].

* ValuesDissonance: Seuss' earlier cartoons contain many racist caricatures of black people, and, once the US entered World War II, Japanese people. There is even racist imagery in some of his children's books, to the point that on March 2, 2021, on what would have been his 117th birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that six of his children's books will no longer be published due to racist imagery found in them.
** He was also a strong supporter of Japanese-American internment during World War II.

** Later averted with some of his final books: ''You're Only Old Once! : A Book for Obsolete Children'' and ''Oh, The Places You'll Go!'' which were welcomed by older readers like retirees and post-secondary school graduates respectively.

* ValuesDissonance: Seuss' earlier cartoons contain many racist caricatures of black people, and, once the US entered World War II, Japanese people. There were even some racist imagery in his children's books, to the point that on March 2, 2021, on what would have been his 117th birthday, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that six of his children's books will no longer be published due to racist imagery found in them.

*** Becomes HarsherInHindsight because it was the last book published when he was alive.
*** Is there a TearJerker-er in Hindsight?

* HardToAdaptWork: This is the core argument many have as to why his books don't tend to translate well to feature-length films and why the majority of the film adaptations based on his work tend to fail more than succeed. Many of his books tend to be incredibly short and simplistic at their core, making AdaptationExpansion necessary in order for them to fit within a typical kids' film structure. However, because of this, the films tend to be incredibly drawn out as a result, with the additions made often detracting from and muddying what were meant to be simple short stories. That said, Seuss' stories have had more luck in television, due to his stories being better suited for television's shorter format.

* HardToAdaptWork: This is the core argument many have as to why his books don't tend to translate well to feature length film and why the majority of the film adaptations tend to fail more than succeed. Many of his books tend to be incredibly short and simplistic at their core, making AdaptationExpansion necessary in order for them to fit within a typical kids film structure. However because of this, the films tend to be incredibly drawn out as a result, with the additions made often detracting from and muddying what were meant to be simple short stories. That said, Seuss' stories have had more luck in television, due to his stories being better suited for television's shorter format.