The Sneetches is a 52-minute special aimed at preschool kids and families, based on the main story of The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss, and produced by Brown Bag Films. The special is written by Esme And Roy co-creator Dustin Ferrer (who also worked on the other Dr. Seuss preschool projects that came out in 2025) and directed by Bronagh O’Hanlon (director on Doc McStuffins, Sadie Sparks, and Karma’s World).

Let me describe the synopsis of the special with some whimsy. Once upon a time, there were Star-Belly Sneetches and Moon-Belly Sneetches who lived together on the beach, until one day, they decided that they were too different to live together. As such, they went their separate ways, with the star bellies living in the trees and the moon bellies living in the water. But then a Star Belly Sneetch named Stella Sneedly (voiced by Amari McCoy) met a Moon Belly Sneetch named Pearl Puddlesnuff (voiced by Sophie Petersen). They both realized that Sneetches are Sneetches, and no one kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches. They then decide to regularly meet up and befriend the other despite this being forbidden.

This special is definitely very fun and sweet to watch, while also having some maturity to the conflict. It’s particularly shown through the message on embracing your differences and not trying to put down others just because they’re not like you. This special actually has some differences from the original book, which I’ll talk about at points.

Animation: Let’s start out with the animation, which is pretty good. As mentioned, Brown Bag Films animated the special, and I particularly think that their strongest looking projects, especially for the preschool audience, are those that have more of a fantasy/forest setting. Just look at shows like Henry Hugglemonster, Eureka, Dee And Friends In Oz, and Horton 2025. It allows the colors and more odd/unusual character designs and settings to really pop out.

Main Dynamic: The main dynamic of the special is definitely between Stella and Pearl, which is done well. It’s basically an “opposites attract” dynamic with the more outgoing and strong willed Stella being contrasted with the more timid and cautious Pearl. It’s particularly shown in how Stella keeps questioning why Star bellied Sneetches don’t like the moon bellied Sneetches while Pearl doesn’t try to challenge this mindset even if she disagrees with the mentality of blindly looking down on others for no reason.

Of course, the special still knows how to make their friendship believable despite differing personalities. A good example comes from when Stella first meets with Pearl on her boat. Stella is immediately willing to be friendly with her. While Pearl is more cautious, she doesn’t show any hostility to Stella. She’s more hesitant, but still tries getting to know her. There’s also the matter of how both are inventors, and do fun things like singing and dancing. We actually see this when Pearl shows off this invention she made that can change the symbols on a sneetch’s belly, and Stella thinks about using it. Even if she’s rather upfront in wanting to use it, which makes Pearl nervous due to the potential risk of being exposed, she still thinks about how this can benefit them both. She not only wants to check out Pearl’s home, but she also wants Pearl to check out her home during a special star themed celebration. Dustin Ferrer is particularly good at showing “opposites attract” dynamics in her projects, which she does here the best.

This dynamic actually brings about its own changes from the source material. For one, none of the main characters were named outside of Sylvester Monkey McBean (who we’ll talk about later), which basically showed a conflict between a group with a special mark but no named characters and a group without marks that also has no names characters. This special goes out of its way to have more of an appeal to kids by creating characters like Stella and Pearl who question why things are the way they are. This aspect, combined with their differing personalities, helps the special out since it helps ease the young audience into the idea that these places are seeing things from a backwards perspective, but can be somewhat reasoned with. Another comes from how Pearl makes the symbol changing invention with genuinely good intentions.

This is different from the original book given how a character named Sylvester McMonkey McBean showed off the invention, but with rather obvious, malicious intent to stack things in his favor by scamming everyone out of their money. The antagonistic character is adapted out, and the name is instead repurposed into being Stella’s pet monkey nicknamed Bean (voiced by Cristina Vee Valenzuela). I think this also works out since it helps show how these prejudices and biases can sometimes not involve an antagonistic force, at least in present day, and the monkey himself at least serves as a good straight man by trying to make sure Stella doesn’t get into trouble with this plan. It also helps that we have another character, a pelican named David O’Doodle Van Donkel McFuzz (voiced by Christopher Fitzgerald), to help ease the audience into this by acting as the narrator.

Family Members: Now obviously, both girls have family members who are fully into the idea of thinking that their group of sneetches is better than the other, much like their respective groups. Of course, how they show this is a bit different from the other. Stella has her parents Sally and Stanley (voiced respectively by Jamie Sara Lewis and Josh Keaton) and sister Skylar (voiced by Courtney Chu) while Pearl has her brother Petey (voiced by Gracen Newton), her parents Peggy and Paul (voiced by Grey DeLisle and Ian James Corlett), and her sister Polly (voiced by Madelyn Skyler Tee). When it comes to Stella’s family, there’s an element of conditional love, albeit not malicious. They, mainly the parents, bring up how she’s different given the inventions she’s made, and also has a pet monkey. Of course, they say how she can be different, but not too different, as long as she doesn’t question the mentality on the supposed superiority of star bellied sneetches.

When it comes to Pearl’s family, the parents do at least show support at Pearl befriending Stella when they think that she’s a moon bellied sneetch even if just about everyone in the family thinks that moon bellies are better. The one that actually shows the most skepticism is Petey. Whereas the rest of the family immediately shows love for Stella when thinking she’s one of them, he’s rather jealous and somewhat spiteful in thinking something is off with her. He actually adopts a detective persona to seek the truth, which ultimately happens later on. This may make him seem unlikable, but at least they show how he’s more misguided due to showing a little insecurity

Ending: Now let’s talk about the ending of the special. It’s definitely pretty interesting to say the least. Everyone finds out about the girls being friends with each other, and they unsurprisingly get into conflict over who’s better. Stella and Pearl then say the special’s message in how they’re best friends even with their differences, and that no one group is better than the other. It initially doesn’t get to anyone, but a storm that was mentioned earlier ends up hitting. Stella and Pearl then lead everyone in making a floating shelter to survive the storm. The shelter is shaped like a moon while the float is a star. I get almost a “Noah’s Arc” kind of vibe from this situation. Obviously, that’s a biblical story with a different story and message, but the idea of coming together to build a floating vessel of sorts to survive a storm, and ultimately surviving said storm because of working together, reminds me of that. We then get an intense moment of the characters almost floating off, but thanks to Stella and Pearl flying to a rock on kite wings, and tying it, they keep everyone safe. After all of this, the two groups come to see how they’re both good, and that one isn’t better than the other. We see this in full effect given how the next festival has them all celebrating together. It’s pretty nice.

Music: Now let’s talk about the music. Rob Cantor, known for working on shows like Goldie And Bear, TOTS, The Ghost And Molly McGee, and more, is the main songwriter here. He definitely brought his A game with how incredibly catchy and quirky the songs are. There are five songs here that are worth going into more detail about. First up, we have “Different Can Be Wonderful”, which is obviously saying how things that are different can still be good. The song is sung by Stella as she goes about her day trying to help others, which obviously fits with how she wants everyone to be happy and get along. Of course, we see other sneetches looking strangely as a way to show that they don’t agree with this mindset. After this, we have the song “Me Too”. It’s basically the start of Stella and Pearl bonding and showing how they have similarities that help them connect. It’s short, but still cute and wholesome.

After this, we have “Look At This”, which involves Pearl showing Stella around her hometown. This song basically captures the excitement she feels at checking out a place that she’s never been to before. It’s pretty endearing. We then get the Star Celebration song, which celebrates how great Star bellied Sneetches are. Of course, this song that seems bright and cherry has a darker undertone since it’s about them thinking that they’re better than others. The final song is a reprise of “Different Can Be Wonderful”, which is fittingly sung by everyone after they learned to embrace their differences. It’s definitely a fitting song to end the special on.

And those are my thoughts on the Netflix special The Sneeches. Even with the changes from the source material, I still think that this special is pretty good. What definitely separates the special from the book is how the book focused more on the negative aspects of prejudice and discrimination. The special doesn’t ignore that aspect, but instead focuses more on the positives of overcoming this, namely in how there’s common ground to be found that can result in friendship. As someone who does like more optimistic media, I think this special does well. Still, I want to know what you think of the special. Comment below.

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