Chatter Of The Squirrel

Movie: Horton Hears A Who

June 23, 2008 on 8:20 pm | In Me! | No Comments

“On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool, In the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool, He was splashing … enjoying the jungle’s great joys . . When Horton the elephant heard a small noise.”

Jim Carrey as Horton the elephant. Steve Carrell as the mayor of Whoville.

This is based on a book by Dr. Seuss. The 2000 Broadway musical Seussicals also used this story.

The main catch-phrase, “A person’s a person, no matter how small”, incidentally is not intended as an anti-abortion statement although it’s been appropriated for their political agendas.

Jim Carrey’s voice is only somewhat entertaining, and his monologues not very much so.

But what’s most enjoyable is the animation of Whoville, a city in a world inside a speck of dust sitting on a clover. It is people by Whos, a specie of microscopic, furry, gangly bipeds. Kooky creatures invented by Dr Seuss to illustrate his kooky poetries.

Growing up with Bugs Bunny and Wile E Coyote, I seem to have an affection for cartoon physics. I adored every moment in Whoville. Less so the scenes in the Jungle of Nool.

It was an enjoyable watch. It hit the theatres earlier this year, but it came and went before most people even noticed it.

It’s an interesting story for children. The morals in the story is myriad. There’s the obvious morals of kindness, honouring ones words, perseverance, and stoicism in the face of public persecution. And there are also warnings of the evils of society, like the casual and gleeful malice of a mob of monkeys, so willing to mete out harm unprovoked, motivated only by the prospect of causing harm to someone who won’t fight back. But scariest of all, is the self-righteous & judgmental anger of the Sour Kangaroo, representing all that is foul and irrational in nosey, busy-body, ‘leader of the community’ who will so readily turn a mob to fulfill her angry agendas.