Horton Hears a Who!

 

Release Date: March 14, 2008

Watch Date: April 10, 2023

"A playful pachyderm named Horton becomes a reluctant hero when he discovers the microscopic city of Who-ville on a floating speck of dust and embarks on a hilarious adventure to save the town from the dangers of those who do not believe it exists. As he helps the townspeople prove they are there, we learn that a 'person's a person no matter how small.'"

    Growing up, I loved Dr. Seuss, and of his many, many books, my favorite would have to be "The Lorax." But that movie isn't on Disney+. My second favorite would probably be  "Yurtle the Turtle", which I don't really see being transformed into a film anytime soon, at least not a book accurate one. "Horton Hatches An Egg" was probably my third most requested of the Seuss novels, but that too doesn't have a film, but it does have Horton. Which was a long walk to say, we watched "Horton Hears A Who!" because I like the loyal elephant. Also, it's just a generally good movie and Steve Carell and Jim Carrey play well off of each other.

    There's a little bit too many side gags and random things thrown in. It can feel a little disjointed at times, like it's trying too hard. But you know what? Sometimes Horton the Elephant tries too hard. I mean the guy hatched an egg for a mother who abandoned her child. 

    I'm sorry! This may have a better message about a person being a person no matter how small, one that Seuss wanted to express and teach in light of the Japanese internment camps. That's awesome. It doesn't matter. I like reading about Horton hatching an egg. "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant's faithful one hundred percent." It's just a catchier slogan.

    Our kids were completely invested, which is saying something, and our son seemed to have absorbed the lesson of the movie by the end of the film - which actually felt pretty cool. I tried to tell him we did in fact own the book version of the story, but he didn't seem as excited about that prospect. No matter what I do, I cannot inspire this boy to read. 

    I'm glad we've moved away from live action Seuss movies, by the way. No, you could not have made Horton Hears A Who! live action, but, I'm getting a little sick of seeing actors completely covered in fur. Seuss has a unique style that was almost destined to be animated, we don't need to recreate it in person. The Grinch worked okay but I think the Cat in the Hat showed us it should stop being attempted. This isn't apropos of anything, I just needed to say it.

    I'm glad that we watched this, I'm glad that it's owned by Disney so that we had the opportunity to watch. I'm just generally glad, really. This movie never fails to put a smile on my face, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to share it with our children.