Horton Hears a Who!

2008 Dr. Seuss adaptation

Rating: 11/20 (Dylan: 8/20; Emma: 16/20; Abbey: 19/20)

Plot: When the obnoxious title elephant hears what he perceives to be a scream from a floating speck, he feels compelled to save whoever made the scream. He discovers that the speck is actually an ultra-microscopic world inhabited by Whos. He decides to move the speck to safety, but standing in his way (for reasons I can't fully comprehend) is a bitchy kangaroo. Meanwhile, on Whoville, the mayor tries to convince everybody that the elephant and their dangers exist.

This is the best screen adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book yet! All that essentially means, however, is that it isn't the equivalent of exhuming Theodore Geisel and urinating freely upon his corpse while standing next to a burning pile of his books which seemed to be the goal of everybody involved in the production of The Cat in the Hat. The main problem with this cartoon is that it is too loud. Just look at the title. Even it has an exclamation point! I have no problem at all with the animation, and in fact, I think this comes a lot closer to capturing the whimsical Dr. Seuss world than the other adaptations, maybe even the classic Grinch cartoon. There was texture, especially in the scenery, and a lot of the background stuff (weird contraptions, sight gags) were fun. Unfortunately, I had to hear it, too. I would have preferred seeing stills and having a narrator (preferably Werner Herzog, but I wouldn't be too picky) read from the book. The added dialogue was rarely worth adding, and the characters (too many, by the way) weren't all that likable. They almost had too much personality. I'm not saying that Jim Carrey and Steve Carell aren't very good at what they do, but I bet having no-name actors voice the roles would have actually helped matters. Or, Crispin Glover could have played all the parts. He wouldn't have overdone it. The movie's also too long at just over 79 minutes. Lots of scenes seemed extraneous, and a musical finale was so dreadful that I pointed to the television and screamed, "You're losing a full point for that, creators of Ice Age!" That probably explains Abbey's rating of 19/20.

By the way, am I the only person on earth who would love to see a full-length feature film version of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish?