Le Lorax

I've only just got around to watching this film and I've got to say It's got a great message and this world needs to listen to it.

Overall it's roots were strong and it had a great sense of humour and also had a dark side to it.

Good animation

If Dr. Seuss were alive, he would have been 108th on March 2nd, and this colourful adaptation of his 1971 illustrated children's book is just the befitting tribute to him. Not only is it joyous hilarity for the whole family, but it preserves the cautionary message at the heart of its source, combining the artistry of modern-day animation with the weird and wonderful elements of what was apparently Dr. Seuss' favourite book for a delightful and unexpectedly thoughtful experience.

And that is really no small feat, as fans of the author can attest- Hollywood has had a hit-and-miss record with the Seuss, bungling terribly in recent years with Mike Myers' 'The Cat in the Hat', before redeeming itself with the 2008 animated 'Horton Hears A Who'. It's no coincidence therefore that the writers of 'Horton'- Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul- are once again the creative scripting force behind this adaptation, and once again the duo demonstrate their sharp Seussian sensibilities in what is possibly the author's most controversial work.

Indeed, the story of a reclusive hermit known as the Once-Ler (voiced here by Ed Helms) who recounts his encounter with a strange orange creature known as the Lorax that had huge yellow eyebrows and a moustache like Yosemite Sam was also a pro-conservation and anti- consumerist fable that courted its fair share of detractors when it was first published and still does so today. Of course, these are also different times today, when concerns about climate change and the environment have crept into both the social and political sphere.

To expand the short story to feature-length, there is now a backstory to the 12-year-old boy who visits the Once-Ler- named Ted (Zac Efron) as a nice nod to the Dr. Seuss (whose real name was Theodor Grissel), this jolly teenager has but one purpose, to get a living tree and win the affection of his sweet high-school age neighbour Audrey (Taylor Swift). Both Ted and Audrey live in the totally artificial town of Thneedville, where everything including the trees is made of plastic and the people are oblivious to the gray desolate wasteland outside of their cocooned city.

With some handy advice from a surprisingly sprightly Grammy Norma (voiced by Betty White), Ted sees firsthand the grim polluted world outside of Thneedville on his way to visit the Once-Ler. Once there, the Once-Ler recounts his folly as a young and ambitious entrepreneur who stumbled upon the beautiful Truffula Valley abounding with candy- coloured lollipop-style Truffula trees, Humming-Fish and cub-like Barbaloots. It's as far from the Truffula Ted's seen as can be, and director Chris Renaud pulls out all the stops to make sure that it is a gorgeous eye-popping visual feast.

The first tree Ted falls summons the Lorax, a guardian of nature who tells Ted that he speaks for the trees and implores him to spare a thought for the forest creatures whose livelihood depends on them. For a while, Ted appears to pay heed to the Lorax, but when his knitted garment he calls the thneed becomes an unforeseen sensation in town, greed takes over and it isn't long before the entire valley is decimated.

It is a cautionary eco-fable all right, and there is a clever metaphor here in how something so sought after like the thneed can be so quickly and easily forgotten. There is also added relevance in what happens after, as another entrepreneurial mind quickly takes over by supplying bottled fresh air to the people of Thneedville and becoming the town's unofficial mayor in the process. Opportunity presents itself in calamity, but how we make use of it is yet something else altogether- that is the lesson Daurio and Paul make as they set up O'Hare (Rob Riggle) and his two bulky bodyguards as the nemeses Ted has to defeat in a thrilling action-packed finish.

The additions will no doubt entertain the kids, but older audiences familiar with the books will be glad to know that the Seussian spirit is well and alive in this zany rollicking adventure. Reverential too is the visual cues that the movie takes from Seuss- both in terms of the curvy undulating lines and shapes as well as the bright colours- and like "Horton", you'll know when you see it that you're in his world.

Deserving of mention as well is the excellent voice cast assembled for the film. Efron conveys youthful naivety as much as Swift, while Helms gives the Once-Ler its necessary idiosyncrasies as well as an unexpected depth lamenting the folly of his past. But the true firecracker here is DeVito, returning after some years of being sidelined in Hollywood to tip-top form as the Lorax. There is verve and edge in every line of DeVito's delivery, crackling and popping as much as the colours do in every frame.

There is also plenty for the kids to embrace, especially the minion-like creatures of the forest courtesy most likely of Renaud- we dare you to resist falling in love with the three aptly named Humming-Fish and the Barbaloots. The stereoscopic treatment here is also a treat (and even more so in IMAX), lending the Seussian-scapes a lush vibrant feel and the action sequences an added dimension of excitement.

But of course this is nary just harmless diversion for the kids, and the true weight of this animation is its environmental message of conservation told in a simple- but not simplistic- manner to be understood by audiences of all ages. It is an adaptation Dr. Seuss would very likely be proud of if he were still around, in no small measure because it echoes Seuss' essential plea summarised right at the end: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It's not."

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All reviewers of this movie seem to either love it or hate it, and it's easy to see why.

As has been pointed out to death, the "modernized" Hollywood story added in of a celebrity-voiced kid trying to win a girl and overcome a two- dimensional villain in the process is thoroughly uninteresting, and will make older moviegoers angry at the lack of effort made in expanding the story.

The Once-ler's tale, on the other hand, is the story carried over from the book, one of unchecked ambition and carelessness. The Once-ler is morally gray and this is done very well, as he is likable, yet you're never sure- is he a villain? A misguided hero? Somewhere in between? Sure, it's padded out with cutesy animals, but knowing what becomes of them in the end makes it considerably less innocent. This story is where Seuss's message is, and it still makes it through.

The score by John Powell is epic and the animation and designs are gorgeous, which add great atmosphere in the darker parts of the movie. The environmental message is very un-subtle, and people who dislike that in other movies will dislike it here.

One need only listen to the cut song "Biggering" to see how powerful this story could have gotten. And they just didn't have the guts. But beauty does manage to seep through in places, and this is one movie that I'd highly recommend seeing only parts of.

Instead, go in with and open mind and prepare to be entertained. The newest Seuss book to be adapted to film happens to be one of the great author's works that I enjoyed the most growing up, the Lorax. The first thing you'll notice about this film is the animation. The colors are bright and vibrant, and the animation is excellent. Another bright spot in the film is the musical numbers, the songs are catchy and creative and add a nice spice to the movie. The main thing about the movie though, is that it follows the book loosely. It is by no means a direct adaptation, but keeps the key plot elements while remaining a modern-day animated kids movie. Fans of the book shouldn't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't. I left the theater feeling satisfied and proud that one of my favorite Seuess stories was done justice on the big screen, as so many animated films don't deliver. But this is one worth seeing, and will be enjoyed by everyone from the youngest of Seuess fans to the very oldest.

Overall: 7/10

It's the second movie of Dr. Suess I have watched until now. The first one, which I watched about 3 years ago, Horton hears the who, is still in my top 20 animated movies of all time. I'd already set mediocre expectations for this one with the reviews, ratings and the plot. At the start, we come to know what message we are gonna get at the end. So, it's not pretty suspenseful. Also, it starts slow. It took almost half the movie to let them come to the track and pick up. It's not slow, but boring in the middle although a few laughs from the little ones which doesn't amuse the giant us too much. No doubt, towards the end, laughs get better and more, however, remain average. The last few minutes are fun, rest it's average/below average stuff. The animation is good. Average Animation movie. Exact 6/10