Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) wrote this eccentric, Oscar-nominated fantasy about a young boy named Bart (Tommy Rettig) who doesn’t enjoy his piano lessons with the mean Dr. Terwilliker (Hans Conried).
Instead, he prefers to play baseball with his friends, or help out his grown-up buddy-plumber Arthur Zabladowski (Peter Lind Hayes).
One night, while fast asleep, Bart dreams that he’s trapped in the kingdom of the fearsome Dr. T, who has enslaved many little boys, forcing them to practice on the world’s largest piano.
Thereupon Bart plans a revolt that will destroy Dr. T’s evil empire.
The movie features songs for which Geisel contributed the lyrics.
Oscar Nominations: 1
Scoring Musical: Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff
Oscar Context
The winner was Alfred Newman for Call Me Madam.
Credits
Running time: 88 minutes.
Directed by Roy Rowland
DVD: April 24, 2001