Horton Hears A Who

In this animated feature, Jim Carrey provides the voice of Horton – a playful elephant with a wild imagination. While the youngest of animals in the jungle of Nool like to play along with our hefty hero, Sour Kangaroo (voice by Carol Burnett) is attempting to make Horton grow up and start acting in a more mature manner. Of course, this latest turn of events won’t help.

While out in the jungle, Horton hears voices coming from a speck on a flower floating by. The miniature city of Who-ville lives on that speck, and the Mayor (voice by Steve Carell) is quite worried about the sudden rumbling, tremors and other disturbances that have been affecting their world since they floated off into the air. Horton agrees to help protect the city of Who-ville, but many attack him, so our hero faces great danger as he tries to help a civilization most he runs across don’t believe exists.

Can Horton save Who-ville?

Will the rest of the jungle believe him?

Will Who-ville believe the mayor when he tells the city about the giant elephant they can’t see?

After the last two Dr. Seuss adaptations, The Grinch and The Cat In The Hat (neither or which I hated), received mixed reviews and reactions from moviegoers, the choice to bring Horton Hears A Who to life via CGI animation was a good one. Instead of sitting there in the darkened theater weighing whether or not the live action figures, sets and costumes lived up to the drawings from the original Dr. Seuss books, and the imaginations of young children who brought them to life every time the book was read to them before bedtime, the audience gets to enjoy the story and vocal talents of a cast of movie All Stars.

Carrey, a Seuss veteran, finds the right balance between goofy and restrained, so kids will laugh at Horton’s antics, while parents won’t sprain any muscles rolling their eyes. I think all of us worried a bit when we heard the sometimes overly demonstrative comedian was tackling the role, but Carrey dispels those fears early and often.

However, the vocal talent also disappointed me at times. Some of the actors, like Isla Fisher as Dr. Larue and Jonah Hill as Tommy try to create unique voices fitting for their characters. However, Carell, Carrey, Seth Rogan (as Morton the Mouse) and some others don’t do much to disguise their voices. That might be at the behest of a studio marketing department desperately trying to make sure the entire world realizes these big stars are part of this film, but I think many could have given more effort to make the characters unique, instead of familiar.

While Horton Hears A Who is full of slapstick antics for kids to laugh at, the last third of the movie gets a bit dark, long winded and dangerous for the youngest as Horton faces a riot, possible capture and worse, while all of Who-ville could be destroyed. The movie is rated G, but parents of particularly sensitive or easily frightened kids may need to explain and comfort the wee ones in the most vivid of moments.

More importantly, kids and adults will find a true hero in Horton, who exemplifies some wonderful traits like honor, friendship, battling against injustice and protecting those who cannot defend themselves, which I think all of us need to be reminded of from time to time.

Horton Hears A Who is rated G