Synopsis

Young Bart Collins hates practicing piano under the stern Dr. Terwilliker, especially because he believes the teacher has taken control of his widowed mother. After falling asleep at the keyboard, Bart enters a surreal dream world where Terwilliker plans to force 500 boys to play a gigantic piano forever. With help from a skeptical plumber, Bart tries to rescue his mother and escape the institute.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is the only non-documentary feature written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. He created the story, co-wrote the screenplay, and supplied the lyrics.

• Geisel's original screenplay was reportedly about 1,200 pages long. The film's imagery and choreography reflect his unusually strong involvement in the production.

• The production was filmed in Technicolor and ran approximately 89 to 92 minutes, depending on the version. Principal photography took place between late February and April 17, 1952, more than a year before its 1953 release.

• A preview audience reacted poorly, prompting Columbia Pictures to remove nine of the 20 musical numbers filmed in full and order a week of reshoots. The longer preview version is now considered lost.

• The reshoots included a replacement opening. This changed Dr. Terwilliker from the author of a piano instruction book into Bart's actual piano teacher.

• Columbia reissued the film in 1958 under the title "Crazy Music." That version omitted the entire elevator sequence.

• The score by Frederick Hollander received an Academy Award nomination for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture.

• Tommy Rettig's singing was dubbed by Tony Butala, who later became a founding member of the vocal group The Lettermen.

• Dr. Seuss later considered the production a major failure and largely avoided discussing it in official biographical material. Its reputation improved over time, and the film became recognized as a distinctive cult fantasy.