Horton Hears a Who!

The third time’s a charm for Dr. Seuss after the outrageous live-action adaptations of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “The Cat in the Hat.”

The 2008 computer-animated film based on Dr. Seuss’s “Horton Hears a Who!” from Blue Sky – the company that released the “Ice Age” films – is frequently charming, beautifully drawn, and far more faithful to the source material than the horrifying Ron Howard-Brian Grazer productions.

Jim Carrey, who arrogantly played the Grinch, is in reasonably controlled form as Horton, a friendly elephant who lives in the jungle of Nool with his mouse friend Morton, voiced by Seth Rogen.

One day, Horton finds a speck of dust on a clover that’s a small planet – where little residents live in a town called Who-ville.

Horton is somehow able to hear the much-disrespected mayor of Who-ville, voiced by a terrific Steve Carrell, but nobody else can. Especially not the overbearing Kangaroo, voiced by the late Carol Burnett (very good), who thinks Horton has a delusion that causes a danger to the social order of Nool. Lou Lumenick noted in his review, “By some accounts, Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel) intended “Horton,” published in 1954, at least in part as a political commentary on the times, with Kangaroo a surrogate for Communist witchhunter Sen. Joseph McCarthy.”

Lumenick continued, “While that political subtext will still resonate for boomer parents, this cartoon is also a delight for their kids, with beautifully rendered images of Nool and Who-ville, and the book’s original beguiling rhymes recited as narration by the perfectly chosen Charles Osgood.”

The simple story has Horton trying to save Who-ville from extinction by predators and from Kangaroo, arguing more than once that “a person’s a person, no matter how small.” (Lumenick noted, “Geisel, adamantly pro-choice, once sued a pro-life group that appropriated his slogan”).

Meanwhile, in Who-ville, the mayor is having a hard time convincing the doubtful public that Horton even exists, much less that they’re in danger unless they come together in a community effort.

Seuss’ short books barely were enough story for half-hour TV specials (an animated “Horton” aired in 1970), so makers of films always have to extend things out with action sequences, and in this case, some clever visual gags.

Screenwriters Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio have added lines for characters voiced by Will Arnett, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, and Amy Poehler.

However, they and directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino thankfully never stray far from the creator’s gentle quirkiness in “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”

The only Seuss film I never saw is “The Cat in the Hat,” which I don’t plan to after seeing Nostalgia Critic’s review of it. However, I decided to check this out, and I loved it. I know that people have criticisms about this, like the anime fight sequences, but I didn’t mind it at all. It was still an enjoyable Seuss film. This and “The Lorax” are the only good ones, in my opinion, even though I know “The Lorax” adds more to the ending that may not have been needed, but I still like those two. Check this film out on Max and I promise you will love this, especially if you’re a Dr. Seuss fan of the books.

Look out next week when I review my yearly “Thanksgiving Movie Reviews.”