Longer text entry turns into ####..

I have a form in Excel that has comments fields. Each comments field is a merged cell consisting of four rows and four columns. My understanding is that Excel should be able to display 1024 characters. The input that's causing me trouble has 360 characters. At around 300 characters, the text box gets filled with ############################# instead of text.

If I size the font down significantly to where there would be absolutely no question that the text would fit, it is still #######.

Any ideas?

I may have to end up using text boxes, but they are a bit troublesome for the less Excel-savvy users of the form.

Thanks,

negcx