The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953) is a live-action fantasy musical written by Theodor Geisel — Dr. Seuss himself — watch it online on iFILM. Directed by Roy Rowland for Columbia Pictures, it remains the only theatrical feature film Geisel scripted, and it shows: nothing else from the era looks quite like it.

Young Bart Collins hates his piano lessons and despises his teacher, the imperious Dr. Terwilliker, played with magnificent menace by Hans Conried. When Bart falls asleep at the keyboard, he finds himself inside a dream where Terwilliker is building a colossal piano meant to be played by five hundred boys at once — all of them imprisoned. The only adult who might help is a distracted plumber named Zabladowski.

Columbia reworked Geisel's original vision substantially, the film flopped on release, and Geisel disowned it. Decades later, audiences found it again and recognized what it actually was: a genuinely weird, visually inventive children's film with a committed villain and music by Frederick Hollander that sticks in your head. Stream The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953) online on iFILM.