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  • Accidental Innuendo: In the TV special, the Yook youths are taught to always spread their butter on top and "never [spread] down there."
  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Van Itch really the bad guy? Could some of his characterization be a bit of Unreliable Narrator from the Yook patrolman? Remember that Grandpa was harassing Zooks near the wall with the switch before Zook patrolman Van Itch slingshotted it. Neither side showed any intention of climbing the wall to the other side due to their mutual hatred of each other. Likely the balance of power was more equal before grandpa's weapon. And right before Van Itch showed up with his giant gun (pointed downward, indicating a defensive weapon and less range), Grandpa was intending to fire what was essentially the equivalent of a cannon on innocent Zooks. Also, it's likely that Van Itch was just as uncomfortable with the Big-Boy Boomeroo as Grandpa, except Van Itch's own grandson (who he may or may not have) wasn't there near the wall, but safe in the bunker below, so he had less reason to be hesitant.
  • Awesome Music: The military march recurring theme in the animated special is pretty catchy.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: The fact that two sides are going to war with each other, eventually of the nuclear variety can be pretty dark but becomes morbidly hilarious given that they're willing to do it over the correct way to butter toast. Of course, the fact that it's so silly is the point and only helps in strengthening its overall message.
  • Foe Yay Shipping: In the TV special, where Van Itch refers to Grandpa as "My dear chap" and delivers his lines in a hammy, vaguely flirty tone.
  • Heartwarming in Hindsight: The fact that the book finishes with No Ending with Grandpa Yook and Van Itch waiting to drop their bombs takes on a more hopeful connotation after the MAD doctrine effectively put the U.S. and the USSR at a stalemate, thereby ending the Cold War.
  • Signature Scene: The thing people tend remember about the book is how it has No Ending with the implication the conflict will end in Mutually Assured Destruction because of how surprisingly dark of ending this is.
  • Vindicated by History: Some critics condemned the book for scaring kid readers with its ominous No Ending. Today, the book is as honored as any of Dr. Seuss' more ambitious works as an equivalent of The Lorax on the subject of war and arms escalation.
  • What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: It's a Dr. Seuss book that's as bright and colorful as his usual work... and then it ends with the implication that a bunch of people are going to be wiped off the face of the earth by nuclear bombs.

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