Horton Hears a Who! (1970)

Very well executed

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Dr Seuss' zippy rhymes brought generations of children together and this one, with its constant refrain 'a person's a person, no matter how small' is no exception.Beautifully animated, this tale of Horton the friendly elephant takes a step on from the 1940s Merrie Melodie 'Horton Hatches The Egg' and has just as much charm. Horton, a slightly dim but kindly elephant, hears a whole colony of 'Whos' who live in a dust speck housed on a clover head, and seeks to keep them safe from doubters who wish to do them and him harm.Memorable, funny, with bright colours and well-shaped characters such as Jane Kangaroo and the Doctor of Whoville himself, 'Horton Hears A Who' is probably the best of the Dr Seuss films.

Horton the Elephant (amiably voiced by Hans Conried) discovers a microscopic community called Whoville living in a speck of dust. Alas, Horton can't convince the other skeptical animals in the jungle that Whoville really exists. The second TV special team-up by master animator Chuck Jones and renowned children's book author Dr. Seuss (the first was the terrific yuletide classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"), this program offers a great deal of infectiously offbeat and imaginative fun for the whole family. The catchy rhymes, the bright, colorful animation, Eugene Poddany's jaunty, merry score, the charming songs, the engagingly quirky characters, the constant zippy pace, the warm, upbeat tone, the heartening conclusion, a strong moral about the power of free speech and democracy, and the nice central message about how there's much more to life than just the obvious and what you already know all make this tale an absolute joy to watch. Moreover, Conried makes for a pleasingly folksy narrator, June Foray does double duty as the haughty Jane Kangaroo and the adorable Cindy Lou Who, and Thurl Ravenscroft lends his great rumbling deep voice as one of the evil singing gorilla Wickersham Brothers. A real treat.

While some might say that "Horton Hears a Who!" was mostly a funny story for children, I notice a similarity to an earlier cartoon which Chuck Jones - who would have turned 95 today - directed: "Punch Trunk". That one portrays a tiny elephant accidentally ending up in a major city, and anyone who sees it is considered insane (though it really does exist in the cartoon). In this cartoon, Horton befriends the microscopic citizens of Whoville but everyone else considers him crazy. Not only do both stories involve elephants, but they both depict beings which most individuals would probably never imagine existing but really do exist (in the cartoons, that is). What to make of this? Maybe I'm reading too far into the cartoon. Dr. Seuss and Chuck Jones probably intended for the story to mostly be entertainment for children, and it is quite enjoyable. I recommend it.

This short animated adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book is on the back end of a video which contains The Grinch who stole Christmas as the feature. It is actually a better story than the Grinch. In fact the storyline deals with such complex metaphysical questions that it is probably a little above the average child. As a childs movie it is about an elephant named Horton who hears a tiny voice one day. After searching for quite a while he determines the voice he heard actually came from the head of a tiny dandelion. Horton discovers the voice is that of a tiny scientist who lives in the village of Whoville. Whoville is located on that dandelion, and is perpetually surrounded by clouds,preventing any contact between Whoville and the outside world.The scientist has long believed that there was live outside of Whoville. Another words they were not alone. This of course is hearesy to the residents of Whoville, and the scientist has been deemed a quack. But now he has his proof, his conversation with Horton. This will prove once and for all that there is life beyond tiny Whoville. Meanwhile Horton has also been deemed a quack. The residents of his world similarly cannot believe that a whole world could exist on the head of a dandelion. The dandelion, and its contents, face peril after peril. Ironically the citizens of Whoville are totally unaware of there immenent doom. After all they are the sole occupants of creation and in there little world everything is just fine. Horton must save them. Not only for the pure goodness of saving all creatures no matter how small, but because it will exonerate him on his world and the scientist in Whoville. The solution: the two worlds just have to speak with each other. Proof to each other that the other exists. Herin lies the beauty of this movie. It works on so many levals. Many more for adults than children. It deals with the intrinsic dangers behind a society thinking that there way of live, there religion, there race, there way of live is the chosen one. Ironically that society,the Whos were a tiny microscopic dot that would have been destroyed had they not been saved by an outsider. It deals with free speach issues in that both Horton and the scientist are attacked for there radical believes. It deals with the strong helping the weak in that the largest land animal, the elephant, struggles mightily to save Whoville, for no other reason than it is the right thing to do. And finally, subtily, it points us to the best solution to all of life's problems and conflicts. Talk to each other!!! Come to think of it maybe this is a children's movie afterall. And since it works so well in teaching us a lesson I give it an EIGHT.