Leo Rijn after Dr. Seuss, ‘North Sound Facing Zax’, C. 1999 Painted resin sculpture on wood stand

This north and south facing zax maquette was produced as a model for the monumental creatures included in Seuss Landing as part of Universal Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida. The zax are interestingly stubborn creatures with hairy heads and bodies. Their home is in the Prairie of Prax. While some zax go north and other zax go south, it is best that those varieties never cross paths. When they do, their stubbornness overtakes them, and neither will give way to the other. They will ever remain as they are in this resin sculpture, trapped, north zax facing south zax until the end of time.

The sculpture is in very good condition. There is one very light scratch on the side of the base. It measures 4 ¼ in x 5 ¾ in; 10.8 cm x 14.6 cm (length x width).

Theodor Seuss Giesel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss (1904 – 1991)

The child of Bavarian immigrants in Massachusetts, Theodor Seuss Giesel first adopted his pen name in college. After caught drinking gin during the Prohibition, the Dean of Dartmouth College striped young Theodor Giesel of any further participation in school’s humor magazine, Jack-O-Lantern, of which Giesel was the editor. To circumvent the punishment, Giesel continued to produce work for the magazine, but signed with his mother’s maiden name, “Seuss” (accurately pronounced “Zoice”). After graduating college, and quitting an Oxford Ph.D. program, Seuss became a magazine cartoonist. By 1928, he settled on what became his best known moniker, “Dr. Seuss,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to his status as a Ph.D. dropout. For many years he scrapped by as a cartoonist, but he got his first real drawing break-through on what became incredibly popular advertisements for Flit bug spray. The catchphrase for the ads, “Quick. Henry. The Flit!” spread like wildfire, and was used in humorous commentary everywhere from radio shows to other cartoons. Seuss’ advertising work continued to be his main source of income for several decades. When Seuss published his first children’s book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” in 1937, he was not an immediate success in the arena. That book was initially declined by dozens of publishers, but Seuss continued to write for children. In his children’s stories, he regularly infused subtle commentary on the prejudices of the world around him. In the 1940s and on, Seuss’ stories helped guide children away from fascism, racist politics, and everyday prejudices. His most prized works, published in the late 1950s, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” and “The Cat in the Hat,” featured characters based on Seuss himself. When Dr. Seuss passed away in 1991, he left a legacy as one of America’s most popular poets, illustrators, and teachers.

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This north and south facing zax maquette was produced as a model for the monumental creatures