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Universal Orlando Resort ‘Evaluating’ In-Park Experiences at Seuss Landing Following Book Controversy

The Universal Orlando Resort has pulled some of Dr. Seuss’ books from their gift shops and is further assessing potential changes to the resort amid controversies surrounding some of the books from the author’s collection.

This comes after a statement released by Dr. Seuss Enterprises yesterday, which revealed that they will stop publishing six of Dr. Seuss’ picture books amid accusations of “hurtful and wrong” racist imagery. A representative for Universal’s Island of Adventure confirmed that the theme park is “evaluating” character depictions represented inside Seuss Landing, an area that includes characters and attractions inspired by the world of Dr. Seuss.

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“Seuss Landing continues to be very popular with our guests and we value our relationship with Seuss Enterprises,” a spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly. “We’ve removed the books from our shelves as they have asked and we’ll be evaluating our in-park experience, too. But our guests can plan on continuing to be able to enjoy their favorite experiences at Seuss Landing.”

Certain play areas at the theme park are based on the animals and characters depicted in “If I Ran the Zoo,” which has been criticized for its portrayal of Asian people. None of that imagery is featured in the play area. Additionally, the Mulberry Street Store gift shop gets its name from “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” another book that will be discontinued. Other titles that were discontinued are “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”

The company has indicated that preventing further sales of Seuss’ books is only “part of our commitment and our broader plan to ensure Dr. Seuss Enterprises’s catalog represents and supports all communities and families.”

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