Who's On Horton?

There are lots and lots of problems when it comes to making cinematic versions of Dr. Seuss books. Hopefully, we will never again see a live action adaptation made. Dr. Seeus' artwork simply doesn't translate into the real world. Seeing the wonderfully goofy Cat In A Hat turned by Mike Myers and heaps of makeup into creepy and disturbing nightmare fuel inflicted wounds upon society that still haven't healed. Horton Hears A Who, on the other hand, shows you that an animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss can be like watching a dream being filmed. Horton not only wonderfully captures Seuss' visual style but actually expands upon it and fleshes it out into a full-on cinematic world while never making you think that you were seeing something that Dr. Seuss wouldn't have done himself. It's been a while since I've seen a movie with this kind of visual imagination and it was a wonderful place for us to watch Dr. Seuss' timeless childrens story come to life.

Which brings us to another problem with trying to adapt Dr. Seuss. His books are so short and simple that you simply can't make them into a 90-plus minute movie. There just isn't enough material to do so which means you have to start padding and, unfortunately, the go-to place for padding is sitcom style jokes and improvs made by comedian voice actors like Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell. Some of this can be quite funny but it's out of place in the world of Dr. Seuss. He wrote books entirely for kids that were so good that, decades later, adults can still tell you the stories of the Grinch and the Cat In The Hat and Sam I am. Adding references to the 70s and 80s, ironic references to the absurd world in which they live and gentle mockery of Seuss' work may be entertaining for adults but it goes over the heads of the children for whom this work was intended. They miss out and don't get why Mom and Dad are laughing when Jim Carrey's Horton begins talking like Henry Kissinger or Steve Carrell's Mayor of Whoville points out that it's kind of dumb to put the word "Who" in front of everything such as saying he has to go to the dentist for his Who-Root Canal.

None of the references are dirty with the possible exception of when Mayor McDodd tells Horton that he has 97 children and Horton says that he must be a busy guy. In fact, I was shocked to see that it was rated G. I can't remember the last time I saw a G-rated movie as movie makers intentionally try to get a PG rating even when it's for kids. That's all about money, of course, though I see that Horton did quite well on its opening weekend and that the filmmakers did the right thing to resist the studio pressure to have Whoville institute a needle exchange program so the movie could get the PG.

I don't think I have to talk about the plot since, if you don't remember it from your childhood then I have very little respect for you. It's all there. The dust speck on the clover. The animals who think Horton is crazy. "A person's a person no matter how small." And, of course, "YALP!"

Despite my complaints, I can tell you that Horton Hears A Who is a wonderful and enjoyable film no matter your age or background. I don't know what to do about the padding since the movie almost certainly wouldn't have been made with it and any future Dr. Seuss film will contain similar content since thtis movie was a hit. I can just imagine Green Eggs And Ham containing Apocalypse Now references about how they just love the small of ham in the morning and the end when everyone sings Thriller. Oh well, gotta take what you can get.