Based upon the book by Dr. Seuss (whose name is officially part of the title), THE LORAX has been contemporized a bit making it accessible to not only super-environmental-types, but to those who were raised upon conservation and not environmentalism. In THE LORAX, Ted (Zac Efron) is a twelve-year-old boy who lives in the plasticized, walled city of Thneedville. Ted is in love with a teenage girl named Audrey (Taylor Swift). Audrey doesn't quite fit in Thneedville and paints the back of her house full of colorful trees which no longer exist. She longs to see a real tree and Ted becomes determined to find one for her. During dinner one night, Ted's Grammy Norma (Betty White) tells Ted that in order to find out what happened to the trees and if there's another one to be found, he needs to speak with the Once-ler (Ed Helms) who lives outside the city walls. Ted has never been outside the city, but sets out on a mission to meet the Once-ler and find a tree. He succeeds in finding the creature on the edge of town and the Once-ler tells Ted his story of how he started life off as an industrious, young man with a heart who just wanted to be a success, how he found a valley of paradise, and how he met The Lorax (Danny Devito). Before the story is through, the Once-ler's tale will merge with Ted's and perhaps revive the valley again.Visually, THE LORAX is stunning. Both the natural beauty of the paradise valley and the plastic artificiality of Thneedville are full of bright and beautiful colors. These are contrasted by the present day greys of the world outside of Thneedville, the world that the Once-ler created.
The story stays fairly close to Dr. Seuss' original tale. However, there are a few differences. The Once-ler isn't a creature that's only seen by his hands, but instead has been transformed into a thin and tall man. When we first see the young Once-ler, there are distinct feelings of sympathy for him and empathy with his plight. It's hard to believe this industrious man will be responsible for cutting down all the Truffula Trees, but the temptations of family and fortune are strong. There are a couple of scenes in the forest that are added to pad the story. Also, instead of leaving at different times, the animals of the forest leave together in a mass exodus. Personally, I thought this element weakened the story.
Like the book, there is a strong conservationist message to THE LORAX, but I didn't see any anti-capitalistic undertones. The Once-ler is "punished" not because he was industrious and wanted to earn a living, but because he gave in to greed and destroyed the very thing that was allowing him to earn a living. Mr. O'Hare, the Mayor of Thneedville isn't a villain because he's a businessman, but because he's manufactured his fortune based upon a lie and even when confronted with the truth, he refuses to concede.
There's a lot of music in THE LORAX that comes in a variety of styles, folk, rock-a-billy, and some Broadway-type showtunes. Personally, I liked the smaller numbers which are mostly sung by the Once-ler (Ed Helms).
THE LORAX has broad appeal. It's a film that kids will enjoy for the characters and bright scenery, while many adults will enjoy for some of the subtle bits of humor. The mass consumerism message isn't as blatant as in WALL-E, but it's still there. Overall, it's a movie that The Lorax himself would probably enjoy watching.
The story is about the Once-ler (what's in a name? Ed Helms) who cuts down all the trees and at times looking like Elton John playing the Pinball Wizard. He did this to make the Thneed (a versatile Huggie) that no one wanted until a pretty girl wore one. Ted Wiggins (Zac Efron) wants to obtain a tree because the pretty redhead Audry (Taylor Swift) wants one. Sort of like Brad Pitt suddenly caring about hungry third world kids. There are musical numbers and numerous messages about consumer marketing, greed, bottled water, and the environment. SNL's Nasim Pedrad did the voice of the Once-ler's mom, reminding me of the grandmother in the old Carol Burnett series.
Perhaps the best message of the film is that individuals can make a difference. As an adult I enjoyed the film.After numerous attempts at live-action films, have animators finally found their groove when depicting a tale by the late, legendary Dr. Seuss? Or are the majority of professional reviewers correct in their belief that the subject matter is not expansive enough for a full-length feature?
Ted (voiced by Zac Efron) is a twelve year-old boy in the perfectly plastic metropolis of Thneedville. Everything in Thneedville is artificial and air itself is only available to those who pay for it. Ted (Efron), more than anything, wants to impress Audrey. Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift) wants to see a real tree, but all the ones in Thneedville are electric and powered by batteries. Some even come equipped with a disco function utilizing music and mirrored balls. Ted asks his family where he might find a tree and his grandmother (voiced by Betty White) says that if he wants to know about trees he'll have to venture outside of town and ask the Once-ler. The Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms) is a hermit who never leaves his house and refuses to even speak to visitors until his very specific, very peculiar demands are met. Once they are, he begins to recount the epic tale of his arrival in the forest and eventual introduction to its protector and advocate The Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito).
In such politically-charged times, there'll no doubt be critics who decry this film as preachy or anti-business. Perhaps if I held beliefs similar to said critics, I might agree. As I don't hold such beliefs, what I saw was highly entertaining and even hilarious. I'm no fan of Zac Efron or Taylor Swift, but they were up to the task and while Danny DeVito might not have been the best choice, in my opinion, he managed. If you have young children, this film is a must-see that you might actually enjoy and if you don't have children, who knows? You might just enjoy it anyway. I did.My opinion of The Lorax stayed in flux as I watched the movie unravel. Sometimes I cringed at how heavy-handed they were with Dr. Seuss' simple message, sometimes I was just dismayed by the overabundance of nasty characters they invented and imposed upon his story. Too many times I wondered where Dr. Seuss was in this messy adaptation of his book. He seemed to be missing. The reason for this became clear in the bonus feature. Apparently, the filmmakers felt it necessary to attach things not Seuss to the story because it was somehow deficient as it was; requiring their extensions. One of them even had the gall to call it a homage. But tampering is tampering; clearly they were dissatisfied with most things in the book, especially the notion of having to adapt Seuss' two-dimensional drawings into......two-dimensional drawings in motion. A lot of work was required to "make them come alive." Again, a slur against Dr. Seuss' work. If they didn't like the book, why bring it to the screen? Why add dopey songs that were less than memorable and subvert the plot? Why ignore the language, what makes Seuss' work so distinctive? There was a reason Dr. Seuss kept his book somber from page one to the end. His point was concise, not easily forgotten. But they had to turn everything into a carnival atmosphere complete with slapstick, a romance, a city, and another villain that wasn't even required. When you overhaul someone else's work to this degree you're not honoring their work, you're desecrating it.Ignore the bad reviews who say it is not like the original in idea. The original also blamed the manufacturers for ruining the enviroment this version just added more content so the message hasn't changed it was just expanded on. I believe in a free market with companies taking responsibilities for cleaning up their messes.
That aside movie was phenomenal and the songs were great. Kids and adults can love this movie. I have not seen a kids movie this great in a long time. And it gives a positive message that we with all the conviences we have in life we need to make sure we take care of the things that can't replaced.
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