Review: Horton Hears a Who (2008) ***

Horton Hears a Who, but he can’t see them 

“On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool,
In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool,
He was splashing…enjoying the jungle’s great joys…
When Horton the elephant heard a small noise.”

So begins Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss and so begins the new animated film based on that beloved children’s classic which tells the story of a gentle elephant who takes it upon himself to protect the citizens of Whoville located on a small speck of dust that no one can see and no one else but Horton can hear.

It’s almost impossible to improve upon the cleverness and charm of one of Dr. Seuss’ stories. Unfortunately, none of those stories by themselves are enough to fill out the 80 or 90 minutes required of a feature length film. While it’s too much to ask that the hour or so of additional material reach the heights of the original inspiration, in a perfect world the new material compliments what Dr. Seuss wrote and illustrated. In a less perfect world the additions at least manage to stay out of the way, padding the story without burying it. In the worst adaptations, the original is completely spoiled, maintaining none of what’s good and replacing it with frivolous nonsense. More, in these cases, is inevitably less. Exhibit A: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Exhibit B: The Cat in the Hat (2003).

Happily, Horton Hears a Who falls somewhere in the middle. As expected, the Seuss story has been larded with extra characters (Horton has a cadre of cute pals, including a blue mouse named Morton voiced by Seth Rogen) and they’ve expanded the role of the mayor of Whoville into an entire counterpoint to Horton’s quest - while Horton tries in vain to convince his jungle mates that there really is life on that speck of dust, the mayor must convince his skeptical citizens that they’re in danger and that Horton is out there somewhere trying to protect them.

Fortunately, despite the best efforts of the attention span challenged creators, some of the wonderful Seuss spirit in the original Horton seeps through to the surface. The extra layers and characters are mainly filler, but at least they do no harm and the messages about the importance of a single small voice and how “a person’s a person no matter how small” manage to survive, diluted but intact.

Jim Carrey does amusing work as an animated elephant, but he isn’t much like the Horton in the original story. Seuss’ Horton was an ego-less, trusting, gentle beast who felt a duty because of his great size to protect those smaller than him whether he could see them or not. Carrey’s Horton is more of a spastic clown. He’s entertaining, but it’s a bit of a betrayal of the all important spirit of Seuss’ story. Still, fans of Carrey will likely be pleased.

Steve Carell has more success in the expanded role of the mayor. He gets the gentle Seuss rhythms and pulls it off with a minimum of shtick. Despite my better judgement, I didn’t even mind that the ultimate Who-hero, Jo-Jo, was turned into the mayor’s sullen son and tied to a subplot about the mayor’s giant family. Of all the extraneous additions, it’s probably the one I liked best.

Better than either of the two leads is Will Arnett as Vlad, the evil black-bottomed eagle assigned to dispatch the speck of dust Horton carries around on a clover. It’s a perfect character to expand without detracting from the story and Arnett digs into it. He’s quite funny with his Russian accent and he provides a welcome jolt of energy whenever he’s around.

The narration by Charles Osgood is good enough. It’s an attempt to keep the flavor of Dr. Seuss going throughout the movie, though it’s mainly a pale imitation and only half successful.

The computer animation is passable if unremarkable, not unlike the Ice Age movies which also come from Blue Sky Studios. The Whoville portions are the most interesting visually and the most faithful to Seuss’s artwork. A segment with Horton crossing a rickety foot bridge is pulled off very well, but the rest of the jungle of Nool is rather bland. It also includes one major visual misstep that would’ve been fatal if not for its brevity: an action sequence that switches styles to emulate a Pokémon-like Anime complete with big eyes, odd exclamations, hyperactive editing and jerky 2D animation. It’s supposed to be clever, but it’s mostly annoying. Luckily it’s short lived and quickly forgotten.

Considering the precedents, Horton Hears a Who isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. See it because your 6-year-old demands it or because you’re a fan of Jim Carrey, not because you want to relive the Dr. Seuss of your childhood. For that, just reread wonderful original story. Better yet read it out loud to a child or someone else you love. After all, we’re never too old for the real Dr. Seuss…or at least we shouldn’t be.

Horton Hears a Who USA 2008. Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino. Written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. Based upon the story by Theodor Geisel. Featuring the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Amy Poehler, Jaime Pressly and Charles Osgood. 1 hour 28 minutes. MPAA Rated G. 3 stars (out of 5)

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