If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
No matter your age, chances are you have read the Dr. Seuss classic “Horton Hears a Who.” The book, which stars Horton the Elephant, is one of Dr. Seuss’ most famous works.
Dr. Seuss, who was born Theodor Seuss Geisel, is arguably the most celebrated author of children’s books in the history of mankind. Born in 1904, Dr. Seuss was a cartoonist and a writer by trade. In his lifetime, Dr. Seuss made over 40 children’s books. Some of his most well-known books included Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Hop on Pop and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Horton Hears a Who predates all the above books. In fact, it is considered part of Dr. Seuss’ early work in his career. The book is about Horton the Elephant and how he hears noises from a small speck of dust. The speck of dust turns out to be a planet onto itself. On the planet is a city called Who-ville which has people that are known as Whos. The Whos ask Horton the Elephant to protect their planet and Horton the Elephant decides to help out. In this part of the book, Horton the Elephant utters the famous quote “a person’s a person, no matter how small”.
After Horton the Elephant agrees to help the Whos, other animals make fun of Horton the Elephant for believing in something that doesn’t exist. The other animals say that the Whos must make a sound that someone besides Horton the Elephant can hear – or else face the wrath of the animals. After working together, the Whos finally accomplish their mission of being heard. In the end, Horton the Elephant is no longer considered crazy and the rest of the animals believe in the existence of Who-ville and the Whos.
Characters that are featured in Horton Hears a Who can also be found in other work by Dr. Seuss. The Whos appear in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Horton the Elephant appears in other books, including Horton Hatches the Egg. Some of the other animals who accompany Horton the Elephant in Horton Hears a Who appear in other works.
Horton Hears a Who on Television
In 1970, Horton Hears a Who was made into a 30-minute television special. The television special followed the same plot lines as the book. Directed by Chuck James, the Horton Hears a Who television special was regarded was a success – both in terms of how it was made and the audience it drew. James, like Dr. Seuss, is a celebrity cartoonist who was best known for his work on Merrie Melodies and Loony Tunes. The television special was produced by Ted Geisel and was narrated by Hans Conried. The TV special is replayed regularly for all generations to enjoy.
Horton Hears a Who in Russia
In 1992, Horton Hears a Who was the inspiration for the Russian film entitled I Can Hear You. This 19-minute film was directed by Alexei Karayev and used a version of animation called paint-on-glass animation. Paint-on-glass animation uses paints on sheets of glass to create life. This technique was made famous by Aleksandr Petrov.
Horton Hears a Who Musical
In 2000, a musical on Broadway entitled Seussical the Musical again brought the Horton Hears a Who story in front of an audience. Seussical the Musical used many different Dr. Seuss books in created its character list and plot but Horton Hears a Who was the biggest influence. After nearly 200 performances, Seussical the Musical ended its Broadway run in May of 2001. In the next couple of years, Seussical the Musical went on a national tour where it consistently received rave reviews.
In 2008, more than 50 years after Horton Hears a Who was originally published and more than 100 years after Dr. Seuss was born, Horton Hears a Who will hit the big screen. Horton Hears a Who! the movie will be in theatres on March 14th and will open to a nationwide audience. This long awaited movie has already drawn positive feedback by critics and fans alike.
The movie was made using CGI – computer-generated imagery. In 1995, Toy Story was the first movie created solely with the use of CGI. After Toy Story had great success, dozens and dozens of other CGI movies have been released over the last 13 years. In March, Horton Hears a Who will add its name to this category of movie.
Blue Sky Studios produced the movie and it will be released by 20th Century Fox. Blue Sky Studios also produced Ice Age and Robots – two very successful CGI movies.
The Horton Hears a Who movie is starring the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. Carrey is the voice of Horton the Elephant, while Carell is the voice of the mayor of Who-ville. Both Carrey and Carell are highly successful comedic actors. Carrey is probably most well-known for his 1994 movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Carell is famous for his work on the television show entitled The Office and the movie entitled The 40 Year-Old Virgin.
The other voiced in the Horton Hears a Who movie are Carol Burnett as Sour Kangaroo, Josh Flitter as Rudy Kangaroo, Will Arnett as Vlad Vladikoff, Dan Fogler as Yummo, Jesse McCartney as JoJo, Seth Rogen as Morton, Amy Poehler as Sally O’Malley, Dane Cook as Johnny Smooth, Isla Fisher as Dr. Larue, Jaime Pressly as Mrs. Quilligan and Jonah Hill as Tommy.
According to a report, Audrey Geisel (the widow of Dr. Seuss) specifically asked that this movie appeal to a wider audience and be safe for children to view. Geisel got her wish as the Horton Hears a Who movie is rated G. It’s the first Dr. Seuss movie to be rated G – the others were rated PG.
The plot of the movie follows the same storyline of the book. While it’s obviously not word for word of the book, the same basic outline is kept intact throughout the film. And while some remakes of the original book changed a lot of the names of the characters, the movie does a good job of keeping the original characters as Dr. Seuss intended.
Movie critics have generally given the Horton Hears a Who movie good reviews. The common theme among reviewers is that this is definitely a movie that should be able to keep the attention of children. While parts of the movie can be dull for adults, it’s overall a decent to good film. Many movie experts expect the Horton Hears a Who movie to be a smashing success. Some even expect the movie to hit number one of the charts in its first week and stay at that spot for multiple weeks.
If you have children in your family, the Horton Hears a Who movie should be will worth the price of admission. If you want to give a child a background of the movie, consider buying a copy of the 1954 original Dr. Seuss book where the idea of the movie originated from. Additionally, the Chuck James 30-minute Horton Hears a Who television special will be made available on DVD in the first week of March. Watching that short television special would be a fun way for a child to begin to understand the storyline and the characters.
