Jim Carrey + Dr. Seuss is a math problem that most people have no problem solving. In the case of the live action The Grinch Who Stole Christmas it equaled a steaming pile of green eggs and suck. Now with Horton Hears a Who, Carrey has a second chance to charm our tiny hearts that have atrophied three-sizes-too-small from the various Hollywood Seuss debacles (did anyone see Cat in the Hat?), and by golly, this time it better be good.
And it is. It's great. The animation is colorful, soft, and lively. The writing is respectful to the source material but liberal enough to add a bit more depth to the original. And the voice-acting is just right- not too much goofy show-boating.
Jim Carrey slightly lifts the tenor of Depp's version of Willy Wonka to voice Horton, a hapless elephant who teaches the younger creatures of the forest how to be curious and imaginative. Horton's world gets turned upside-down when his large ears perceive squeaks from a speck floating by in the breeze. Buried microscopically deep within the heart of this miniscule speck is the city of Who-ville teaming with furry village idiots prancing around like happy little crackheads, not a care in their world.
The mayor of fuzztown, and the one who communicates with Horton, is ably voiced by Steve Carell. The pairing of Carell and Carey is easier to digest than I thought. The two match up well. Carell is given a quality voice-over role that mines his own familiar ground of social awkwardness (40 Year Old Virgin) politician-turned-prophet (Evan Almighty) and even unrespected father (Dan in Real Life).
The mayor of who-ville must convince his world that they are merely part of a speck resting on a flower held in the trunk of a kind, yet bumbling, elephant. Not an easy feat when you live in a completely safe world populated by hopeless airheads. On the other hand, Horton must keep this speck safe when the closed-minded populationi of purple hued kangaroos and grape-apes challenge the reality of his micro-verse. Both Horton and the mayor live in worlds where people insist that "if I can't see it, hear it, or touch it, then it doesn't exist." Within this context, I noted a subtle message that commented (clumsily and tangentially) on the debate between evolution and creationism in schools. Horton is condemned for teaching the kids to protect a world that they must take on faith. The mayor is mocked for believing in a larger world that only a who-scientist can help explain. Somewhere underneath that topsy-turvy metaphor is a nice message that I'm still trying to wrap my head around.
You won't find any fart jokes or tired gags in Horton like you might expect from something like the next Shrek installment. My three-year-old enjoyed it, and I didn't find it too scary, crude, or dumb for her, which as many of you know, is sometimes a minor miracle in the world of children's cinema. I personally enjoyed the cast, which included husband and wife duo Will Arnett and Amy Poehler, and some of the Judd Apatow crew like Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen. They played it safe and added a layer of honest humor that one might not expect from this type of star-filled feature.
This movie is perfect for toddlers. My daughter watched quietly the whole time, and because we are new members of National Amusements Popcorn Club (*plug plug), we saw the movie for free (relatively speaking) and snacked on a free popcorn combo. And after the show, we strolled by customer service, and they gave us a free Horton movie poster. Not too shabby of a cheap date for an at-home Dad and his daughter.
So, check out Horton and let me know what you think in the comments below.
Erin liked it a lot
Well, I'm extrapolating here. Erin has seen a lot of movies. It started when she was young enough the she was sleeping for a couple of hours every couple of hours and her mom and I had to get out of the house; she was born at the end of April and she definitely saw Shrek 3 and Spiderman from her carseat as she slept.
When she stopped sleeping every couple of hours (at around 2 months, I'd guess) we were unwilling to stop seeing movies, so we started taking her to the drive-in, where she could scream and cry all she wanted. She would usually fall asleep on the drive there and stay asleep for at least the first hour. She even let us get through some movies entirely before she would wake up hungry. We watched every summer blockbuster from the car with her sleeping in the back.
When she was 5 months old I began my career as a stay-home dad, and I'm a movie whore so I wanted to keep going. But, she also had a bed time that prevented us from going to the drive-in any more. So I've been bringing her to afternoon shows of whatever movie I want to see, and I've been pretty good about guessing when she'll sleep. I've only had to walk out of a couple of movies (she does not like Paul Giamatti's voice, and I mistimed Charlie Wilson's War).
So when I say Erin liked it a lot I could mean a lot of things; I could mean that she slept through the whole thing, or that she was awake and watching the whole thing (which she was during "Bee Movie"). In this case, though, she slept through the first half, sat patiently on my lap watching for the 3rd quarter of it, and then got bored and climbed the stairs for the rest. It's the "sat patiently on my lap watching" part that determines, for me, that she liked it. She never uttered a peep in protest.
I liked it better than the Grinch remake, but I didn't care one way or the other about the acting. I was fascinated by the philosophcal issues the movie dealth with: Hume's problem of induction; valid types of knowledge.
But I was definitely put off by the home-schooling-busy-body mom kangaroo character. It seemed to be a slam against parents who home school (she was annoying, pushy, acted superiorly and like the president of the PTA, even though her kid was homeschooled) and I don't know how warranted that is. I don't know any homeschooling parents or kids, so I can't say, but that character seemed recklessly prejudicial and one-dimensional.
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The Kangaroo Mom
That chick was weird because she seemed symbolic of an atheist, but she was a homeschooler protesting faith being taught in schools. Many homeschoolers are religious, from what I understand, so that's why I said it was all backwards. And I can't figure out what the message actually was because, in the end, the little who-world wasn't imaginary or spiritual. It was really there. So, where does that leave the message of the film. I'm thinking too hard, I guess.
I don't think that the kangaroo character was targeting homeschoolers... just close-minded judgemental parents.