Horton Hears a Who!

In the jungle of Nool, the elephant Horton hears a voice in a speck; he uses a clover to rescue the speck of dust and he makes contact with the Mayor of Whoville. Horton discovers that in that tiny speck there is a city crowded of people and he decides to leave Whoville in a safe place. However, the evil Kangaroo does not believe in his words and finds Horton dangerous for the children of Nool, making them believe in what they can not see, hear or feel, and incites the animals against Horton.

With the message "A Person Is a Person No Matter How Small", "Horton Hears a Who!" is a lesson of respect and rights of the minorities through hilarious situations. The animation is awesome, the characters are nice and I liked this great family entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Horton e o Mundo dos Quem!" ("Horton and the World of Who!")

Dr. Seuss has not always found fortune when making his way from page to screen. But, this latest incarnation is the most who-larious I've ever seen. Get it? Who-larious? Like "hi-larious" but with "who". As in all the Who's down in Whoville and little Cindy Lou Who? Fine, roll your eyes but you'd be rhyming too if you stopped being so cynical and saw HORTON HEARS A WHO! It's funny; it's goofy; it's surprising and loopy. It's colorful and flashy; it's unexpected and splashy. Wait. Splashy? Is that even a word? I needed something to rhyme with flashy and what I came up with was absurd. Sorry, I promise I won't rhyme all the way through. Besides I'm no match for Dr. You-Know-Who. It's just that this movie is so darn adorable when all the previous Seuss movies have been basically horrible. The spirit of the book remains completely intact but it's modern somehow and as a matter of fact, the ideas have expanded without looking back. Now, thanks to the good folks at Blue Sky, the studio that gave us ICE AGE before this, Dr. Seuss can rest easy, his legacy revered and no longer amiss. So pack up your car, pack up your girl and your boy and bring them to see Horton, a movie the whole family can… hmm, what rhymes with "boy"? Employ? Coy? Toy? Nevermind. Bring them to see Horton, a movie the whole family can appreciate.

All that rhyming was mildly exhausting. Let's move on to the intellectualizing portion of this review. When HORTON HEARS A WHO! was originally published in 1954, Dr. Seuss gave his young readers an important lesson about how any voice, no matter how small it may appear to be, can change the world. Screenwriters, Ken Dario and Cinco Paul, have developed the confidence-boosting tale into a much grander take on societal hierarchies, the power of the imagination and the possibility that we are not alone in this universe. The very big elephant, Horton (voiced in a lovably whimsical fashion of fancy by Jim Carrey), randomly finds the tiniest world in the most unexpected of places, a spec of dust that has flown past him to eventually rest comfortably on a clover. It turns out that this world is known as Whoville. It plays home to hundreds if not thousands of Who's and is run by a Who known only as The Mayor. You can only imagine The Mayor's surprise when Horton finally makes contact with him. Now imagine that surprise voiced by the self-deprecating, neurotic genius of Steve Carrell. Together, Carell and Carey play perfectly off each other as their performances are based in the knowledge that Horton and The Mayor are not nearly as different as they initially appear. Though one is huge and one is small, they both know the meaning of responsibility and importance of helping all who need.

Of course, back in the Jungle of Nool that Horton calls home, no one believes his story about the people on the spec, so he must go it alone. This would be fine if it weren't for one kangaroo (Carol Burnett), the self-proclaimed ruler of this particular jungle. Horton's flagrant use of his imagination could inspire others and before you know it, all you got is anarchy. And so the door is opened to one of many lessons that give this fable a great richness. While children are not often discouraged to use their imaginations, here they are encouraged to support what they believe to be true inside of their hearts. In doing so, they should even challenge the status quo. Combine that with Horton's perseverance, dedication and loyalty to his cause as well as The Mayor's ability to rally his people together by overcoming his insecurity to become a great leader and you've got a family film focused on promoting fine values instead of promotional products for a refreshing change. The best part is that the lessons never take away from the fun!

I know I wouldn't have an easy time if a giant elephant I couldn't see informed me that my whole universe was nothing more than a spec of dust. This is why I'm not in charge of the planet, I suppose. Although slightly less jarring, I was also thrown and most certainly impressed by the existential depth of HORTON HEARS A WHO! Who knew that an animated family flick could challenge the young minds of children the world over to think for second about the fragility and preciousness of life itself while cracking them up non-stop and without freaking them out? Horton knew; that's who!

Oh wait … JOY!! Joy rhymes with boy. Right.

Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey) from the jungle of Nool hears a voice coming from a speck of dust. It turns out to be the voice of the Mayor (Steve Carell) of the microscopic town of Whoville where the Whos live. He tries to save the speck by placing it on top of Mount Nool. But nobody believes him, and the strict Kangaroo endeavors to stop him. No matter what the obstacle, Horton must save the Whos. After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.

I find both sides of the story very touching. Neither character is believed by anybody. Yet they both risk it all for what they believe. The ending is especially touching. It doesn't get better than the idealism of Horton. I love Horton crossing the bridge, but Vlad may be too much. It puts a little too much ugly danger in an otherwise beautiful kids cartoon. It's a short movie, and they probably needed to pad it to fill out a full movie. It's a sweet kids movie with a good message.

I saw the first teaser trailer for Horton Hears a Who a few months ago, and I have to say that it was a little off putting, it looked kind of strange and like it might be another Cat in the Hat lousy movie, but then they started advertising it a little more and it looked more cute. So I decided to check the film out today and I am really impressed, so far I'd say this is the best animated film of 2008 that I've seen. I remember reading the book as a child, it's one of my old time favorite's, you could never go wrong with Dr. Suess. When it comes to his films being put up on the silver screen, excluding the 40 minute cartoon classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, other films like The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat have been ultimate flops and horrible. But Horton Hears a Who proves otherwise and is a wonderful film to watch.

Horton is an elephant just enjoying life, he's a teacher and is loved very much by the little animals of the jungle. But his life is about to change when he sees a little speck and saves it, inside this speck is a little town of Whoville. The mayor of Whoville has asked Horton to take them to a safe place before his town is destroyed. Seems like an easy enough task for Horton, until an angry mother, Kangaroo, feels like Horton and his speck are a bad influence amongst the children, and wishes to destroy the speck and trap Horton.

Horton Hears a Who is such a wonderful film. For a book that you can finish in half an hour, they did a great job filling in other lines and such great jokes. The great thing is there is no pop culture or over the top jokes, they just go old school and make this film fun and original. The actors seemed like they just had a great time getting into character, Steve Carell and Jim Carrey are a brilliant combination, so their voices added a lot to the film. The animation was clever and colorful, it was a joy to watch. I very much recommend Horton Hears a Who, it's a terrific family film and just a fun movie to watch for the afternoon, I think Dr. Suess would be very proud too.

9/10

So far, this is the best possible example of bringing a Dr. Seuss book to life. The animation is top notch and the design of the characters stay true to Dr. Seuss' vision. Overall, a splendid effort from 20th Century Fox.

"Horton" tells the story of an eccentric elephant named Horton (voice of Jim Carrey) who stumbles upon a floating speck that is actually an infinitesimal world that is home to thousands of tiny little creatures called Whos. Though microscopic, the world known as Whoville is a land of technological achievement. The Whos are intelligent little creatures who are strange in appearance.

The Major of Whoville (voice of Steve Carell) is the first person to come into contact with Horton after he hears his voice in a drainpipe. Like Horton, he has a somewhat bizarre personality, so no one believes him when he claims that the world is going to end. Likewise, no one believes Horton when he claims that a race of people are living on the diminutive speck.

After he is somewhat shunned by his friends and society, Horton sets off on the misadventure of his lifetime to relocate the speck to a safe location so that the citizens of Whoville can live in peace once more.

Again, this is a great film for all ages. Kids will lap up the lush animation while parents can have a chuckle at the adult jokes that are scattered throughout. Dr. Seuss would be proud.