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First published in 1960, Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is an addictive rhyming book for beginning readers. It’s about a boy and a girl named Jay and Kay and the many wonderful creatures they have for friends and pets. This week Netflix premieres Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish, Blue Fish, a new animated series based on the preschool classic, which has sold over six million copies sold worldwide.
The 5 x 25-minute show is developed by Dustin Ferrer and exec produced and show-run by Ferrer and Steven Conner. With animation produced by Atomic Cartoons, the series is directed by Chelsea Ker and features the voices of Brian Drummond (Red), Andrea Libman (Blue) and Naomi Tan (narrator). Ferrer, whose many credits include Wonder Pets!, Peg+Cat, Bubble Guppies, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Muppet Babies, was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about this latest animated adaptation of a Seuss classic:
Animation Magazine: Congrats on your awesome new show. Can you tell us how you got involved with this project?
Dustin Ferrer: Back in 2020, Netflix executives Heather Tilert and Ashley Brennan approached me about developing and show-running multiple Dr. Seuss properties. It was a full circle moment for me because, long before working in kids’ TV, I wrote my college thesis on Dr. Seuss. I still feel incredibly honored that Netflix entrusted me with bringing these Seuss books to life.
What do you love about this fresh take on the Dr. Seuss property?
I love that Red Fish, Blue Fish feels so different from any other show I’ve ever worked on. The curriculum for the series is Oppositional Concepts and the only words that our characters speak are the opposite words for that episode. So for each story, we had to create a Buster Keaton-ish, slapstick, silent comedy. When the dialogue is stripped away, every gesture, pose, and expression has to be perfect for the story to be clear and for the jokes to land. I’m really proud that we managed to make an absurd, funny, educational show for preschoolers that anyone can watch and understand.
What is the toughest part of opening up a brief, hugely popular book and adapting it into an animated series for young audiences today?
I think the toughest part is staying true to the original property while also making it your own. In the book, all we ever learn about Red Fish and Blue Fish is that they’re red and blue. We had to develop brand-new characters, while making sure they fit in the Seuss universe. The one repeating line in One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is “funny things are everywhere,” which also helped us define the show.
Can you tell us about the visual style of the show and the vibrant animation?
We obviously wanted to represent Seuss’ unique visual style, but Seuss had the benefit of static images on a white page. When you try to translate that into animation with colorful backgrounds, things can get visually overwhelming very quickly. Our art director, Kim Knoll, did an incredible job of creating a rich, colorful, Seussian universe that was still pared back enough for animation.
Where is the animation produced and what tools do they use to produce it?
The animation was produced at Atomic Cartoons and they did an amazing job bringing this show to life. Including our in-house team and partner studio, we had well over a hundred people who contributed to Red Fish, Blue Fish.The animation was done in Toon Boom Harmony, but we also incorporated lots of hand-drawn poses to be able to push our characters’ expressions beyond the rig when needed.
Since you’ve worked on so many wonderful preschool shows—what are some of the secrets of writing animated shows for young people?
When writing for preschoolers in particular, it’s important to respect the audience and meet them where they are. As fun as it can be to write puns and make jokes for adults, at the end of the day, the story and characters need to be simple enough for the youngest viewers to follow along. And simplicity can be deceptively hard.
You are also working on two other Dr. Seuss shows—is that right? Can you tell us a little bit about them?
Yes! We’re working on a preschool series called Horton! starring the beloved elephant. In our show, a young Horton helps other animals in the Jungle of Nool. He has a hilarious sidekick bird named Samson, and Jane Kangaroo from the books is a fun comic foil. We’re also making a 45-minute special based on the book, The Sneetches. In our version, there are Star-Belly Sneetches and Moon-Belly Sneetches who believe they’re too different to get along. But when Stella, a young Star-Belly Sneetch, befriends Pearl, a Moon-Belly Sneetch, they teach their communities that differences shouldn’t just be accepted, but celebrated.
What is your take on today’s world of animation for young viewers? Any advice for newbies who would like to jumpstart their careers in this unpredictable field?
It’s a difficult time in the industry, but also an exciting one. I think animation is headed in the direction of other forms of media: people are going to be producing and releasing their own content. My advice (which really applies to any field) is that you have to love the process. Work can feel grueling at times and you can’t control how your work is received, so you have to enjoy the process of making the show. I still marvel at the fact that I get to make cartoons.
Why do you think these characters created by Theodor Geisel aka Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) have such lasting appeal and popularity worldwide?
The more I study Seuss’s work, the more I think he’s a genius. He not only created an incredibly unique visual style, he created a wholly original verbal style as well. You know a Seuss image when you see one and you know a Seuss rhyme when you hear one. To be that distinctive on two fronts is just incredible. As for the characters, he wasn’t afraid to make his heroes flawed: the Grinch is a villain, the Cat in the Hat is a mischief maker and Horton is a bit of a pushover. I think kids and adults appreciate that kind of authenticity.
Dr. Seuss’s Red Fish, Blue Fish premieres on Netflix on Monday, Sept. 8.
