Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Story: The animated adventure of a boy searching for that one thing that will help him win the love of the girl of his dreams by finding out what happened to the Truffula trees. A 3D-CGI adaptation of a Dr. Seuss' classic tale.

Review: This is the 4th movie adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story. I am a huge fan of the books. I even have one book in my possession, The Cat In The Hat. The previous movie adaptations of other Dr. Seuss stories were, The Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears a Who, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas aka The Grinch. The first one was the Grinch. Unlike the first two, The Grinch and The Cat In The Hat, Horton Hears A Who and The Lorax are CGI-animated. The Lorax looks exactly the same just like in the book.

The Lorax book

The animators of The Lorax is Illumination Entertainment, the same people who brought you Despicable Me. You can see that their making the minions of Despicable Me their mascots whenever they flash their name in the trailers. Making Lorax a CGI animated flick is a good idea because it is very rare that live action can do most of the effects and it will be most appealing to the children. The trademark of a Seuss character is visible in the movie like the shape of the nose and eyes of the people and what the animals look like.The fishes also looks like the Fish in The Cat In The Hat.

As for the story, it is so simple yet it can be enjoyable for the whole family. Parents need not worry about the movie because it's really child-friendly viewing. But there are only few narrations in the story. Since this is a book adaptation, there should be narrations throughout the movie just like in previous adaptations. What I like about Seuss narrations are the rhyming of words. They also made some songs but were not taken from the books unlike the songs in The Grinch that used were lines from the book. The romance of Ted and Audrey didn't exist in the book. It was probably added so there would be a better purpose and to make the story longer.

Dr. Seuss holding The Cat In The Hat

For the casting, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift were one of the main characters. I perceived that they were cast because of the musicale part of the movie. Veteran comedienne Betty White plays Ted's grandmother. Even though she is a supporting character, she also a key character to the story. But the best part was from Danny DeVito, who played the title role. DeVito's voice was so distinct that you won't missed it and he is really ideal for the role of the Lorax. He is comical not just because he is doing a successful TV sitcom, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I've first heard DeVito doing a voice role in Disney's Hercules when he played Philoctetes the trainor of heroes and he done it wonderfully. It is so fitting that the two voice characters were also as short as DeVito.

Dr. Seuss stories are modern day fables. They always have a lesson to teach their readers and in this case, the movie patrons. The Lorax message is clear and simple. The movie was released March 2, 2012 which happened to be the 108th birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss(1904-1991). Dr. Seuss' The Lorax opens in cinemas March 14, 2012 and is released and distributed locally by Universal Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp. Advance screening was held in IMAX Cinema in SM City North EDSA last March 11, 2012.