Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who

By Clint Morris

Horton may have been hearing a ‘Who’, but that’s much more interesting than hearing Crickets – something theatres screening the last couple of Jim Carrey movies have been hearing (rather than loud, popcorn-chewing audiences).

The good news is, and despite the fact it’s a toon, Carrey’s return to Seuss-ville (he also starred in another Dr Seuss book cum film ‘’How the Grinch Stole Christmas’’) – or rather, Whoville – near independently erases every wrong move the Canadian comic has made the last couple of years (well, perhaps not everything – “Fun with Dick and Jane” is still giving many nightmares). And believe it or not, he’s playing an Elephant.

First things first : Yes, “Horton Hears a Who” is aimed at kids, but like “Ice Age” and “Toy Story”, includes enough over-their-head-humour and amusing characters to amuse and entertain even the more senior of audience members.

The flick fixes on an imaginative elephant named Horton (Carrey), who swears he hears a cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Suspecting there may be life on that speck and in spite of a neighbouring hamlet which thinks he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to help.

What the elephant discovers, thanks to the tiny kindly town Mayor (Steve Carell), is that he’s holding the fate of ‘Whoville’ in his hands – or rather on the clover that the speck of dust is sitting on – and must find a safe place to rest the speck before the imperceptible town is obliterated.

Whilst previous Seuss adaptations, “Grinch” and (the woeful) “Cat in the Hat” were live-action, “Horton” is animated – beautifully animated. The colours bounce off the screen, the detail sharper than anything you can set your set-top box too, and the voice-cast – which also includes Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and Isla Fisher – are absolutely fantastic.

It may be a bit lightweight in terms of its storyline – even then, a lot has been added to the film that wasn’t in the book – but its lively voice-cast and cute array of characters more than make’s up for any thinness in yarn.

Extras

Commentary and Deleted Scenes