Horton Hears a Who!
Release Date: March 14, 2008
Director: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Stars (voices): Jim Carrey, Steve Carrell, Carol Burnett
Runtime: 86 min
Dr. Seuss writes some excellent books. Blue Sky Productions (those guys behind ‘Ice Age‘, ‘Rio‘) makes some pretty good animated movies. Put the two together, and you end up with the thoroughly decent Horton Hears a Who!
Horton Hears a Who! tells the story of Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey), who, incidentally, hears a who of the town of Whoville, that happens to live on a speck. He has to keep away the speck from evil kangaroos and crazy-lookin’ monkeys, and go out of his way to bring it to safety.
That is the same Whoville of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The message at play here is that everyone has a voice, no matter small. Horton constantly communicates with the Mayor of Whoville voiced by Steve Carrell, a comedian with an equally big voice, as the message might suggest. You’ll want Horton to get that speck to the mountain and be safe. But you’ll forget half of the names of the citizens of Whoville the second the end credits roll.
While the movie isn’t ground-breaking, it has some nice animation that fits the imagination of Dr. Seuss. Jim Carrey is over-the-top as Horton, but he’s just being his usual self. His voice acting will make this entertaining for older audiences, as well as children. Some of his impressions will leave children in the dark about the real joke, because they’ll only be thinking – “Oh, he’s talking in a funny voice. That’s supposed to be funny. Ha-ha!” I’d rather him stick to live-action movies. He does some spot-on impressions, but for some viewers, he could take away from the story.
Jim Carrey and Steve Carell are the stars of the show. As is the animation. The story’s lightly written. It’s forgettable, but it offers some good entertainment. It’s one of those great movies for a rainy day. You can relax and watch it, and just have a good time. It’s nothing more, but it’s nothing less. It’s definitely better than Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in Hat.
70/100
