by Missy Thompson
STAFF WRITER
There are very few family and kid-friendly movies in theaters right now, and that's why the timing of the new animated movie "Horton Hears a Who" is perfect.
With the voice talents of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett and Seth Rogen in the Dr. Seuss-based film, one would think this would be an excellent interpretation of "Horton." Unfortunately, it's a good thing this movie is targeted toward children, because adults will probably be bored to tears by the lame dialogue and cheesy sight gags.
Nonetheless, the message of "Horton Hears a Who" -- "a person's a person, no matter how small" -- is good for kids to learn. It teaches them about using their imagination. The other subtle message of this movie is telling kids to defy authority and question their elders. While children may not key into this aspect of the film, parents probably will.
The animation itself is very well done, but then directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino decided to implement different animation styles. For instance, they used Dr. Seuss-style drawings and anime, neither of which fit in well with the rest of the film.
Because the story is fun and unique, like the majority of Dr. Seuss' books, "Horton Hears a Who" as a movie tries to recreate that feeling. For the most part it does a good job, but the directors added way too many other aspects that did not fit in with the story. I understand the need to spruce up an older story by adding modern elements, but in this case the directors went overboard.
In "Horton Hears a Who," Horton the Elephant (voiced by Carrey) lives life a little vicariously, roaming through the Jungle of Nool and teaching a few animal children about different parts of the jungle. He comes across a small speck of dust perched on top of a flower. When Horton hears a voice coming from the speck, he realizes there must be someone living in there. Other animals in the jungle think Horton is crazy and Kangaroo (voiced by Burnett) is the leader of the pack who wants to destroy the speck.
Meanwhile, Horton is right, there is a tiny community living in the speck -- the town of Whoville, where the Mayor (voiced by Carell) starts to think he is going crazy. The Mayor has always been a little strange, but when an outside voice starts talking to him, the council members question his ability to run Whoville. Strange things start happening to Whoville as Horton travels around with his trunk wrapped snuggly around the flower.
Kangaroo enlists the help of Vlad (voiced by Will Arnett) to get rid of the speck while Horton makes his way to the top of Mount Nool where no one can disturb the people of Whoville. Very few people in the jungle believe Horton except Morton (voiced by Rogen), a skittish but loyal mouse. In order for Horton to save Whoville he must either convince Kangaroo and the animals in Nool that there is in fact life on the speck, or get to the top of Mount Nool before it's too late.
Although "Horton Hears a Who" follows closely to the story by Dr. Seuss, the film could have been more interesting -- especially for adults -- if parts of other stories were added. This is a wonderful movie for kids with its fun characters and great message. And parents can be glad it is only 88 minutes long.
missy@tooeletranscript.com
Grade: B-
Rated: G
Time: 88 minutes
Opens Friday