Horton Hears a Who!: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, 88 minutes, rated G.

The latest movie based on one of Dr. Seuss’ illustrated children’s books is Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino’s “Horton Hears a Who!,” which really is two movies in one--but let’s not consider that a bargain just yet. Some elements in this computer-generated extravaganza are a shade too bargain basement to suit, especially when compared to the richness of its source material.

While none of those qualities extend to the beautifully detailed animation, which successfully captures the bizarre quirkiness of Seuss’ world, the same can’t be said for the awkward way screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio try to bridge the gap between Seuss’ work and their own. What we have here is a movie that shrewdly takes as much of Seuss’ words and story as possible--that’s the good news--before it fleshes out the slim story with less-creative elements.

And that’s the problem. The world Seuss created in 1954 for “Horton Hears a Who!” is timeless. It is, in fact, without a time. It might have been created by Seuss as a reaction to McCarthyism, but its strengths nevertheless exist in imagination. So, the idea that the filmmakers have updated the story with a host of pop-culture references--from global warming to the addition of the Who phone--is unnecessary and distracting, and it steals away at least some of the book’s charm.

But not all of it--the bones of Seuss’ tale do remain in place. The better news is that this is the best big-screen adaption yet of Seuss’ work, easily trumping the live-action wrecks, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Cat in the Hat.”

The film follows Horton (voice of Jim Carrey), a gentle elephant busy bathing one day when he comes upon a speck knocked loose from a flower.

When the speck floats past him, Horton hears tiny screams emanating from it that ignite in him a rush to protect it. Trouble is, now that he has it in his possession, he must convince others in his rough-and-tumble jungle community that what he hears within that puff of dust is another world, one that might be far smaller and different than theirs, but which nevertheless is worth saving.

Good luck to Horton. Indeed, for him the problem is that only he has heard and communicated with the speck’s inhabitants--the Whos of Who-ville--a curious race governed by Who-ville’s bumbling mayor (Steve Carell), who is trying to make his Whos understand that their lives are in danger.

Making matters worse for them all is the character who doubts Horton most, the self-righteous, crazed fanatic Kangaroo, who is voiced with such sneering menace by Carol Burnett, the only person who could best her small-minded evil is Oklahoma state representative Sally Kern. But maybe they'll use her in the sequel.

Anywho, what ensues is a movie that finds the Whos joining together to be heard while Horton literally is imprisoned and mistreated for trying to help. The ending is especially powerful and intense, with Horton literally going through Hell to help the little guy. And here is where the movie presses into the uneasy realm of politics. Since Horton is played by an elephant and not a donkey, one has to wonder at what point some bright star in Washington might view him as a viable running mate for the republican presidential nominee, John McCain.

In that circus, anything can happen.

Grade: B-

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