Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Green Eggs And Ham’ On Netflix, Which Takes Dr. Seuss’s Classic And Creates A Buddy Road Trip Story

You likely read Green Eggs And Ham as a kid, and you likely read it to your own kids. When you heard that Netflix was going to create a series based on the Dr. Seuss classic, the first question that came to mind was, “How?” Well, Jared Stern and Warner Brothers came up with a way; make Sam-I-Am and his “frenemy” road trip buddies! Read on for more on this surprisingly fun adaptation…

GREEN EGGS AND HAM: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A nighttime shot, with a kite flying. The narrator (Keegan-Michael Key) says “Just east of Northwestville and south of Gubai, a town known as Glurfsburg might catch your eye. Our story starts here; who knows what’s in store? It begins with a kite, then… SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!”

The Gist: The rhyming stops when the narrator sees someone dressed in ninja gear. “This is Dr. Seuss, so I wasn’t expecting a n– oh, WHY WOULD YOU CUT THE LINE?” The ninja flies into the Glurfsburg Zoo and steals the rare and dangerous Chickeraffe, the featured exhibit there.

Meanwhile, a grumpy inventor named Guy-Am-I (Michael Douglas) is stomping towards what’s on the invite as the “biggest meeting of your life,” an open inventor showcase at Snerzco. He thinks he finally has the right one; a self-flying machine with ten hands on it that flap furiously. He just hopes that it won’t blow up. When he goes in, he’s told not to be nervous; that it’s “just a bunch of bean counters and pencil pushers.” Indeed, he sees people counting beans and pushing pencils until he gets to the main room, where he sees Michellee (Diane Keaton), the company’s best bean counter.

He presents his invention, and… it works! He gets the golden ticket to present the invention at Snerzco’s headquarters in Meepville… which is precisely when it blows up. Dejected, he goes to the local diner to order the “sad man’s special.” That’s when an enthusiastic guy who introduces himself as Sam-I-Am (Adam Devine) bounds in and extols the fact that they’re “briefcase buddies.” When he orders green eggs and ham and offers it to his new friend, Guy turns him down flat. “I do not like green eggs and ham,” he tells Sam.

After the Chickeraffe disappears, the zoo is visited by the Bad Guys, a poacher named McWinkle (Jeffrey Wright) and his overeager assistant Gluntz (Jillian Bell). They’ve been sent to Glurfsburg to get the Chickeraffe for Snerzco’s owner Snerz (Eddie Izzard), who covets the rare Chickeraffe to complete the collection of animals whose (live) heads are displayed on his walls. When they notice the Chickeraffe is gone, they threaten the zookeeper over the pit of slapping turtles and he gives up the items the thief used.

We also follow Michellee back home, where we see her adventurous daughter EB (Ilana Glazer), Michellee is a single mom and very protective of her daughter, almost to a fault. After reports that the “dangerous” Chickeraffe has escaped, she tells EB that she’s going on her business trip to Snerzco’s HQ in Meepville.

Guy, resigned to stop inventing and get a job watching paint dry in Meepville, goes to his presidential suite at “Frontyard by Snerzco” — he got upgraded because he has 2 million points — and he opens his briefcase. But instead of his broken invention, something else comes out.

Our Take: As soon as we hear Keegan-Michael Key say “This is Dr. Seuss, I didn’t expect a n… WHY WOULD YOU CUT THE LINE?” you know that this isn’t the Green Eggs And Ham that kids have been reading for the past 60 years. Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss to you and me) was challenged to write a book using only 50 words, and this classic is the result. But what executive producer Jared Stern (The Lego Batman Movie) has created is something completely new. And if you keep that in mind, you’re going to enjoy this Green Eggs a whole lot.

If we really wanted to pick some nits, this version of Green Eggs, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, hews closer to WB’s sensibility than Dr. Seuss’. With lots of self-referential jokes, pop-culture gags that might go over kids’ heads, and decidedly grown-up humor in places, the show feels more like WB’s once (and future?) hit Animaniacs. But the jokes and references aren’t gratuitous, and they don’t get in the way of what’s developing into a pretty satisfying buddy road trip story.

What we were surprised about was how much actually happens in the first two episodes and just how deep the characterizations are, considering this is supposed to be a show for kids. Sam is happy on the outside but lonely and sad and in search of a buddy, which is why he steals the Chickeraffe; he also wants to keep it from the hands of poachers like McWinkle. Guy is grumpy but more hopeful than he projects, just knowing that one of his inventions will eventually change the world. And, in their brief scenes, we know more than enough about Michellee and EB to really want to follow them. Eventually everyone will join up on their way to Meepville, and things should get even more interesting.

There’s some real drama there to pair with the physical comedy of, for example, Guy’s room getting trashed by the Chickeraffe. And, while we’re never in favor of all-star voices being cast over voice over pros, Douglas is especially good as Guy. Devine has done plenty of VO for cartoons, and his penchant for playing happy-on-the-surface characters dovetails well with Sam. And the rest of the celebrity voices try to make themselves characters instead of just talking like themselves (we still haven’t heard from Tracy Morgan as Fox, Daveed Diggs as Mouse and John Turturro as Goat the bounty hunter).

What Age Group Is This For?: My four-year-old Green Eggs book fan hated this show within five minutes. This is understandable, as the show has a story and lots of quick-paced jokes that went completely over her head. The show is rated TV-Y7, and much of the physical humor will resonate with kids that young. But the story itself will likely go over the heads of most kids under 10. In fact, there are scenes that might scare really young kids.

Parting Shot: Guy throws his briefcase in the fireplace, then sees it move. When he gingerly opens it after taking it out of the fire, we see the shadow of the Chickeraffe.

Sleeper Star: Wright really leans into his role of McWinkle, who is doing “one last job,” but Wright is just that good, and he’s done some voice roles in recent years, so he knows that it’s as much about creating a character as it is about lending your famous voice.

Also, keep an ear out for the soundtrack. Lots of old songs from the ’60s that you don’t expect to hear on an animated series, like “Walk Don’t Run” by The Ventures.

Most Pilot-y Line: Stern will wedge in classic Green Eggs lines as we go along, “In a car”, “On a train,” etc., and it almost feels like they don’t need to be there at a certain point because it distracts us from the story.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you treat the Green Eggs And Ham series as its own thing and disconnect it from the book, you’ll enjoy a really well-written and well-animated show.

RELATED: Netflix’s ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ Cast Guide: Ilana Glazer, Diane Keaton & More

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, FastCompany.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Green Eggs And Ham On Netflix