Movie Review: "Horton Hears a Who"

I've long admired the work of Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. His stories and art, which have captivated generations of children, often possess multiple layers of meaning. On one level is a wacky and fanciful story that can be enjoyed on its own merit, while beneath the surface there often lurks a strong social or moral statement laid out so plainly that it can be grasped by even the youngest minds. In his whimsical stories, Dr. Seuss has explored such issues as the destruction of the environment by corporate greed (The Lorax), and the absurdity and inevitability of conflict and prejudice (The Butter Battle Book, and The Sneetches, respectively). Horton Hears a Who was probably my childhood favorite. After viewing the new film adaptation, I'm pleased to report that not only is it entertaining, but it also retains the feel of the original book, underlying meanings and all. Hollywood has had its way with Dr. Seuss's stories in the last few years, with less than satisfying results; it's refreshing to see an adaptation that won't make Geisel turn in his grave.

Horton Hears a Who is, at its most basic level, the story of a good-natured elephant who discovers a fully-populated, tiny world on a speck of dust. Horton vows to protect this speck and its citizens from harm. But he is antagonized by a despotic Kangaroo and her cronies, who think Horton is crazy, and, in a mean-spirited twist, seek to destroy the speck. At the story's climax, the microscopic "Whos" are called on to save themselves by literally making their voices heard.

The film stays true to the story (sometimes even including Seuss's rhyming verse as a foreground narration) while adding new characters and fleshing out existing ones. The characterization of the original cast is accurate, with the exception of the baby kangaroo, who was originally a simpering "Yes Man," and is now more of a sympathetic character. Horton has been given a few new "buddy" characters, mostly thrown in for comic relief, while the population of Who-Ville has been explored in far more detail than in the original story. They made the little lazy guy from the story named Jo-Jo into the mayor's mopey, emo son. Another interesting added twist involves the townspeople not believing the mayor about Horton's existence, thus creating a parallel with Horton's predicament. The film features the voice talent of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogan, and others, all of whom put on an entertaining performance.

Computer-generated animation was definitely the right move for this film. The last couple of live-action Dr. Seuss films just looked... dumb. In this case everything is slick, with convincing textures. The character and location designs remain true to Dr. Seuss's art style, down to the haphazard architecture and bizarre mechanical contraptions. There are two brief traditional "cartoon" sequences, one of which is a hilarious anime satire.

It should come as no great surprise that the main target audience for this film is comprised of children. It's G-rated and fairly clean, and contains a fair amount of Saturday morning slapstick material (apparently, kids find nothing funnier than head trauma). So if the only movies you like begin with the words "American Pie," or "Hellraiser," you'll probably be bored sitting through this one. Given the chance, I think it could appeal to a broader audience, however. Remember the layers of meaning I mentioned earlier? They remain intact here. What are they? It's tough to say; I'd suggest statements about dangers of closed mindedness, and of allowing the masses to be blindly manipulated by an authoritarian leader. And likely something about the importance of the individual to affect change, and the necessity of making one's voice heard, both as an individual, and as part of a group. Or maybe it's just a kid's story about an elephant and a speck of dust. It is what you make of it. In any case, I enjoyed the latest film adaptation of Horton Hears a Who. It's a fun film, and a worthy tribute to Geisel's classic story.