Horton Hears a Who (***½)


Directed by: Jimmy Hayward & Steve Martino
Starring: (voices) Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher.
Seen: March 29th 2008

***½ Out of ****

Horton (Carrey) is a jolly elephant who teaches/baby-sits a few young animals/alien creatures in the jungle. One day, while he is frolicking through the jungle like he usually does, he hears a very faint cacophony of screams. After a bit of confused searching for the source of this, Horton finds a little spec of dust floating around on the breeze, and he catches it on a flower.

The spec turns out to be the micro civilization of Whoville, led by The Mayor, voiced by Carell. It takes some time for Horton to convince the mayor of the situation, but once that is done they decide to work together to save Whoville from destruction.

A lot of factors form part of the threat against Whoville. These include the quasi-evil Kangaroo, atheistically denying the possibility of life on the spec, Vlad, the vulture Kangaroo hires to devour the spec, and small climate changes in the big world that has massive impacts in Whoville, among others.

This brings us to the moral of the film, because through all these adventures and chases and close calls Horton keeps reiterating the mantra: “A person’s a person, no matter how small”, and this is one lesson that does not, like in some animated features, feel forced in the slightest.

Add to this the multiple side-splitting moments we are presented with – physical comedy, Katie the little weird yellow animal, Jim Carrey and Steve Carell’s comic timing – and we are left with one of the most entertaining and funny animated films I have ever seen. Look out for references to the originals by Dr. Seuss, the reactions of the citizens of Whoville, and the second Vlad. This is an intensely funny and fun movie.

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