The Grinch was mediocre at best. The Cat in the Hat can’t be categorized as anything short of a disaster. Let’s face it: Dr. Seuss’s books were animated – perhaps that says something about the proper format for his movie adaptations? I think so.
Horton Hears a Who marks the third Seussian adaptation in the last 10 years and by my book (and his) it’s easily the best. What makes the qualification all the more astounding is that I didn’t even find Horton to be all that humorous. Yeah, there was the occasional moment of laugh-out-loud comedy but for the most part Horton draws nothing but amused smiles.
But how can this be? Packing the performances of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill and even Amy Poehler, the cast, studded with comedic stars as it is, fails to draw the audience into the hysterics that it would seem to promise. I have found one explanation: someone gave Jim Carrey too much leeway. He’s a funny guy but half of the film’s time is spent listening to Mr. Carrey spin-off into quasi-comedic bits that an animated elephant can only convey with mixed results. Sure, the kids will roll in the aisles when the smoothly rendered elephant folds his ears into various disguises – but for the adults it will be bittersweet. Not to be a curmudgeon, but there’s a reason the original animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas was a meager 26 minutes – that’s how much time it took to get the book’s message across. The same can be said of Horton Hears a Who.
So much extra time is devoted to Jim Carrey’s alternative stand-up and Steve Carell’s widely expanded role as the Mayor of Whoville that the movie seems to wander off-course. Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t think the Mayor needed a subplot to make the story more interesting. Maybe I’m a Seussian Purist. I’m not – but maybe. Why writers Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino felt compelled to give the Mayor’s son Jo-Jo such a large subplot confounds me. Horton Hears a Who is the perfect example of Hollywood stuffing a children’s flick full of stars and then kicking the stuffing out to get their buck’s worth.
However – what no one should, rather, what no one could complain about is the lush three-dimensional environment created for the caper that unfolds. While short in contour, the environs make up for any shortcomings with vivid colors and creative structuring that for once gives the proper compliments to Seuss’s vision. While The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat had to make-do with flimsy imitations, the animated world allows the clever architecture and unique machinery of the Whoniverse to fully come to life. It’s glorious. It really, truly is. Although, there was a very short sequence when Horton hears the speck for the first time that the film breaks into a really awesome retro animated mode that would’ve been really cool to see more of. But maybe we’ll see more of that in the future.
While Jim Carrey majorly strikes out and Carell hits a foul ball, the remaining vocal performers in the film all follow through. Carol Burnett is perhaps the most notable among the supporting cast as the uptight Kangaroo who hopes to banish all hopes of imagination and alternative thinking from the jungle called Nool. Oh McCarthyism metaphors – how timely you still feel. Arthur Miller would be proud. Will Arnett as the bad Vlad fits – but oddly. I watched Vlad and at times I could tell it was Arnett and at other times could not. Will’s Russian accent (as good or bad as you think it to be) really covers up his typical arrogance – maybe he has a voice acting career? The Vlad joke in the movie was the funniest for me, it just was. While Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill perform well – it’s their very presence in the story that annoys me. First, Seth Rogen finds himself playing a small blue sidekick to Horton named Morton. What the hell? Why was this necessary to have in the movie? Talk about cashing in on recent popularity for no reason. The same goes for Jonah Hill.
With all my griping aside – for kids Horton Hears a Who has all the vibrant colors and excitement necessary to keep them visually fixated for entire 88 minutes. I can’t say the same for adults – I checked my watch once or twice. While still besting the previous two Seussian attempts, Horton Hears a Who is still a long way off from adaptation perfection.
Horton is really just eye candy for children. But with the rate of childhood obesity increasing in America…do your children need more candy? Do they? Well, they might.
"Horton Hears a Who" opens March 14, 2008 and is rated G. Animation, Children & Family. Directed by Jimmy Hayward. Written by Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino. Starring Amy Poehler, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill.
