Horton the elephant hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust and discovers a microscopic land inhabited by a civilization of tiny people called Whos.
With Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton and Steve Carell as the Mayor of Who-ville, this full-length feature adaptation of Dr. Seuss's classic story is more animated than ever! The vibrant computer-generated imagery definitely does justice to the signature Seuss style, bringing the whimsical world of Who-ville to life in a way young readers could only have imagined. Although the moviemakers have to stretch Horton's simple message, "a person is a person, no matter how small," to fill the feature-length format, there’s plenty to keep audiences of all ages amused. Preschoolers will enjoy the slapstick, but older children may find more meaning in the story. Realizing the Whos are unaware that their world is a speck on a clover, kids will start to wonder just what our world might be to some other civilization.
This movie was intended for older children.
Dr. Seuss is certainly a favorite with the preschool set, but at almost an hour and half, this movie version may be too long for very young children, who may also find it frightening--especially on the giant screen--when the jungle animals tie up Horton, cage him and threaten to boil the speck in a vat of oil. They may be better off watching the classic TV special, which is now on DVD and tells the same story in 26 minutes. Five-year-olds will likely get caught up in the magical world of Who-ville and will find it reassuring that the fragile Whos are being taken care of by the gigantic Horton.
Horton is the type of friend everyone would love to have--fun to be with and "100 percent faithful." Kids will get a kick out of watching him knock down a tree to make a diving board and wrapping his ears around his head like a bathing cap! They'll appreciate the way he tiptoes across a dilapidated bridge and picks through three million flowers--all to save the Whos. Children in this age group will probably remember many of the lines from the story and will feel nostalgic hearing them interspersed throughout the movie.
Although many tweens will believe they've outgrown Dr. Seuss, stars Carrey and Carell will attract a surprising number of them to the theater, where they will be hit with some thought-provoking ideas. They'll agree when Horton points out, "Two vastly different world miraculously crossing paths--if you think about it, it's pretty amazing," and will realize how important it is to look outside their own little world. They'll laugh when Horton says he has to get the Whos to their new home, "ASAP--whatever that means," and then considers, "Act swiftly, awesome pachyderm--obviously!" Tweens may be able to relate to Horton and the Mayor, who are ostracized for their open-mindedness, and to the Mayor's son, who has no interest in following in his father's footsteps and finally makes his voice heard.
