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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 13 March 2008

Horton the elephant, voiced by Jim Carrey, keeps his ear to the ground

Ears why cartoon flick could be big hit

HORTON HEARS A WHO
Directed by
JIMMY HAYWARD/STEVE MARTINO
Certificate 12a

I WAS never a great fan of Dr Seuss, who wrote the book in 1954 on which this startlingly original animated film is based. Mainly because I never heard of him until I saw that film about The Grinch a few years ago.
This puts me in a minority of 200 million to one, according to the publicity claiming the number of children’s books the good doctor has sold with their quirky plots and strange language.
Sorry, but I must have missed the bus. Until this week, when this full-length feature cartoon takes its place alongside Ratatouille among the leading players from the Hollywood animation factory.
It was worth the wait. The screen becomes a living rainbow of vibrant colours peopled by bizarre characters led by Horton himself, a baby elephant voiced by Jim Carrey who gets into all sorts of trouble when he overhears tiny voices from a mote of dust floating past his head through the jungle. A whole new world opens up, an enchanted kingdom called Whoville, of small furry creatures led by their angst-ridden mayor (voice: Steve Carrell) – and now Horton finds a purpose in life: to protect this miniature society from the predators in the big, bad world outside.
He aims to find a safe spot to hide them, but runs into hostile Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) whose motto is: “If you can’t see, hear or feel anything, it doesn’t exist.”
The intriguing thing about Seuss has always been his ability to weave a fantasy world for children that disguises more adult issues on a deeper level.
But I wonder if we’re not reading too much into what is in essence a hugely entertaining piece of eye candy with some wonderfully inventive ideas and characters.
The original book was only 72 pages, and it sometimes appears that the film-makers are straining a little to fill 95 minutes of screen time.
The contrived perils are straight out of Tom and Jerry or the Road Runner, the kind where poor Horton is stuck on a rope bridge over a gorge that’s about to break up and end with him plummeting into the depths.
No matter. It still remains a spring treat for the very young and the very old alike.

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