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A recently published study argues that Lorax, a children’s character created by the American writer Dr. Seuss, was inspired by a species of African monkey. Since the animal appeared, in the 70’s, it was not known exactly what it was or if it was something totally sprouted from the author’s head.
In “Dr. Seuss and the Real Lorax” (“Dr. Seuss and the Real Lorax”), anthropologist and evolutionary biologist Nathaniel J. Dominy joined a multidisciplinary team that included Donald E. Pease, a specialist in American literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, to show the similarities between lorax and the Erythrocebus paws, a monkey that inhabits semi-arid areas of Africa, from the Gambia to western Ethiopia. Dominy told Atlas Obscura that he was at a dinner and sat next to Pease. Knowing he was on the side of a respected Dr. Seuss expert, Dominy struck up a conversation about the paws, saying that he always presented the monkey in his classes as «a monkey that Seuss would create.» Pease explained to him that The Lorax it was written, precisely, on a trip to Kenya. The snap was given.
With orange coats and facial hair that might not be the mustache of the Lorax but which give it a peculiar air, the paws has other similarities, in addition to the physical ones, with the character. The Lorax has a voice described as high-pitched and bossy, and it lets out squeaky sneezes like sawdust, while the Paws emits similarly squeaky warnings.
The researchers also analyzed the original Lorax illustrations and compared them to primate photographs using a facial analysis algorithm. They concluded that it approaches the paws. Of course, the study does not claim that Paws is the real-life Lorax, but it is likely that Seuss was inspired by it.
– (Eric Kilby/Flickr)
CHILDREN’S CLASSIC
Theodore Seuss Geisel (1904-1991), Dr. Seuss, wrote more than 60 children’s books, including How The Grinch Stole Christmas It is The Gatola da Cartola. In 1970, he wanted to write a book that would bring the environmentalist cause to children, but writer’s block prevented him from moving forward. His wife, Audrey, decided to take him on a trip to Mount Kenya National Park, the 5,199 m colossus that is the second highest peak in Africa. There, inspired by the sight of a herd of elephants, he wrote 90% of The Lorax in one afternoon, alongside a to-do list, according to his memoirs.
The book was published in 1971 and the fable became a symbol of the environmental struggle (“I am the Lorax and I speak for the trees” inspired many posters in demonstrations). New generations also know Lorax from the 2012 animation, with Danny DeVito voicing the character. The author’s fans already want proof of the existence of the creature that inspired the Grinch. And we take the opportunity to remember that bigfoot remains fictional.