'Horton Hears a Who!': A Funny Movie With a Message Too

By Martha Brockenbrough
MSN Cinemama

Hollywood can be oddly persistent. Despite dreadful adaptations of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Cat in the Hat," movie makers keep circling the estate of the late Dr. Seuss, even though none of his wonderful books has enough meat to sustain a feature film.

At some point, the carcass will be deemed clean. We can only hope that happens before someone decides to bring "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" to a theater near you.

With that in mind, there's good news and bad news about "Horton Hears a Who!," the latest venture into the Seuss library.

Variety review: 'Horton' Has a Split Personality

The good news? It's light years better than "The Grinch" and the gummy hairball that was "The Cat in the Hat."

Though the story drags in a few points and is overly freighted with messages, Horton (a restrained Jim Carrey) remains the compelling character he was in the book. What's more, the movie is full of sight gags that will amuse kids and adults alike, and the overall animation quality -- especially in the Whoville setting -- is terrific.

The bad news? It's good enough to paint a bull's-eye on "The Sneetches," "The Lorax," and other Seuss odes to social justice.

"Horton" tells the story of an elephant who lives in the lush and lively jungle of Nool. He's sweet and contented until the day he hears a sound coming from a floating speck of dust. People live there, he realizes, and he sets out to rescue the inhabitants, keeping them and their wee world safe in the pink down of a thistle.

Along the way, he makes some enemies: a reactionary mother kangaroo (Carol Burnett); the Wickersham brothers, a band of ill-mannered apes; and a mercenary vulture of Eastern European descent (Will Arnett). The kangaroo especially hates Horton because he insists there is life on the speck of dust, even when no one else can perceive it.

The story focuses on Horton's battle against the doubters and a parallel struggle the hereditary mayor of Whoville has with an obfuscating city council and a populace that would rather celebrate than believe their world is in peril.

Though the story suffers a bit from padding and proclamations, it's definitely better than your average animated fare, and makes a swell family outing in the company of a noble hero -- one of the best ever written.

What's in It for Kids

"In my world," says one of Horton's fuzzy, adorable students, "everyone is a pony and they eat rainbows and poop butterflies."

While there are no ponies, edible rainbows or excreted butterflies to be seen in "Horton Hears a Who!," the loopy humor of this quote sums up much of the fun of this movie.

Though the themes in "Horton" are serious, the movie hasn't lost its funny bone. (And fear not, parents: That's the only poop joke.) The Wickersham brothers, for example, shoot bananas from their armpits. Horton also uses his ears as a swim cap, and later turns his trunk into a sort of hot-air balloon to help him navigate a tricky bridge crossing.

There's even a brief segment animated in the style of Japanese anime, which will reawaken any kids who start drifting off when Kangaroo says, "Our community has standards, Horton. If you want to remain part of it, I suggest you follow them."

Herein lies the big problem with the movie for kids. The quote itself reveals all the subtlety with which some of the movie's themes are delivered. To abuse a cliché, they're the proverbial elephant in the corner. In addition to praising her conservative community standards, Kangaroo also rails against the dangers of imagination and faith. "If you can't see, hear or feel something, it doesn't exist," she says.

And then there are the council members of Whoville, who have political issues of their own, namely an inability to face the grave environmental issues their teeny planet faces. The mayor's problems extend from the political to the personal, too. He has a son who doesn't want to inherit the job.

While all of this does make fantastic stuff for kids and parents to ponder together, there is quite a lot of it in the movie, and it steals thunder from the story's classic line, "A person's a person no matter how small."

This is the downside of trying to translate a picture book for the big screen. Picture books are, by definition, stories distilled to their essence. Dr. Seuss was a master of this, and in wacky and inventive rhyme, no less. This is why his books remain fresh and popular, even a half-century after they first came out. It's hard to keep that same elegance on a much larger scale.

On the bright side, this adaptation is much better than the 1970 TV version, and parents will be glad to note that the Wickersham brothers are not only less scary, but they also have a reason to be mad at Horton, who inadvertently trampled their fun.

There is a somewhat scary scene inside a vulture's cave, but Vlad stops far short of being terrifying. Arnett is nicely modulated in the role. And the movie, rated G, is appropriate for preschoolers on up.

What's in It for Parents

Most parents are familiar with the "Horton" story and know how it ends. So the primary draw of this movie won't be cinematic suspense, but rather, nostalgia. It's nice to share something beloved from your childhood with your own children.

I'm talking here about Horton, of course -- but also Burnett. Many of today's parents grew up watching "The Carol Burnett Show" on TV, and she even had a couple of memorable turns on "The Muppet Show." In "Horton," she makes a great Kangaroo: bossy, officious and ultimately completely pathetic.

Her character won't make any friends in the homeschooling crowd, though. Kangaroo's joey is the only kid Horton doesn't teach because, as she puts it, her family is "pouch schooled."

As funny as this line is, homeschoolers aren't going to appreciate being labeled as dogmatic, unimaginative and cruel. It's hard enough when you're the only kids on the block who don't know how to operate juice boxes. (Just kidding, homeschoolers! But seriously. Don't squeeze them. Juice goes everywhere.)

Burnett is one of many big stars with voice roles in "Horton." Carrey goes for warmth over wackiness. Steve Carell is equally good as the put-upon mayor. Perhaps the best, though, is Charles Osgood as the narrator. When he reads the lines from the book, he reminds us how good Dr. Seuss really was -- and how much we want Hollywood to keep its mitts off "The Lorax."

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Martha Brockenbrough is author of "It Could Happen to You: Diary of a Pregnancy and Beyond." She's also founder of SPOGG, the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. She writes a fun-with-kids column for Cranium.com, as well as an educational humor column for Encarta. Check out her Web site.

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