Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

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Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose

Author	Dr. Seuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Children's literature
Publisher	Random House
Publication date	1948
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
ISBN	ISBN 0394900863
OCLC	1386296
Preceded by	McElligot's Pool
Followed by	Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose is a 1948 children's book by Dr. Seuss.

[edit] Plot

Thidwick, one of "about sixty or more" moose in a herd, accepts a bug living on his antlers, who tells a spider of the luxury, and both accept a "Zinn-a-zu" bird. The herd rejects Thidwick after the Zinnazu bird's wife, a woodpecker, and four squirrels move in. Since food is scarce after a bobcat and turtle settle, they refuse to let him travel to the other side of the lake. Pressure hits the poor moose after three mice, a fox, a bear, and 362 bees move in on his antlers, but trouble switches thoughts fast after seeing hunters who "must get his head for the Harvard club wall". When Thidwick is trapped after an attempt to escape, he suddenly remembers that antler-shedding season has arrived. He bucks the antlers off, leaves the freeloaders at the mercy of the hunters and swims to the other side of the lake to rejoin his herd. His antlers, and the former squatters, are stuffed and mounted.

[edit] Animated adaptation

Screenshot from Welcome (1986)

The story was adapted into a paint-on-glass-animated 10-minute film in the Soviet Union titled Welcome (Russian: Добро пожаловать). Released in 1986, the film went on to win the Grand Prix at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 1988 and in Los Angeles. Although the visual style is quite different, the story is mostly the same with the exception of some subtle changes - for example, the moose isn't shown rejoining his herd at the end and the squatter animals aren't stuffed and mounted. Also, none of the animals are ever named and there is no narrator. The film was directed by Alexei Karayev. The art director was Aleksandr Petrov, who would later win an Oscar for his 1999 film The Old Man and the Sea.