 
Horton Hears a Who!
a.k.a. “Horton,” “Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who,” “Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!,” “Ortone e il mondo dei Chi” Reviewed by: Patty Moliterno Good
Moviemaking Quality:
½Primary Audience:
Kids, Teens, Adults, Family
Genre:
Animation, Kids, Adventure, Family, Adaptation
Length:
1 hr. 28 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
March 14, 2008 (wide)
           Relevant Issues
“One Elephant. One World. One Story.” Most everyone who sees this movie knows the stories of Horton the Elephant. Horton Hears a Who does follow the traditional story line with a modern twist. Horton (voice of Jim Carrey) lives in the land of Nool. During a peaceful afternoon, a speck of dust floats by and Horton hears a scream. Horton decides he is going to protect this speck of dust because there has to be some life on that dust that made that scream. During this entire movie, Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) goal is to stop Horton from his foolish behavior. She thinks that he is warping the children’s minds with his foolish beliefs and anarchy will result. Horton and the Mayor of Who-ville (Steve Carell) talk, but nobody else can hear them. Both of them are thought to be crazy. Horton seems to be the only one who can hear the Mayor down in Who-ville, and when the Mayor finally gets someone to listen, Horton is not holding the clover and nobody can hear him. Horton’s goal is to find a safe place for his speck (and the people of Who-ville) to live because as Horton says “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” There is little in this movie that one can say is objectionable. Probably the worst scenes are ones that have a vulture named Vlad. The scenes are dark and scary to some children. My 3 year old used my coat to hide under during these scenes. Most of the violence is comedic. A monkey uses bananas as ammo to shot at Horton. The Mayor is kicked, hit with a stapler on his head, hits people with his numb arm, and gets hit by a beach ball by an angry mob. The scenes of violence against Horton may be a little scary for some kids – he gets attacked by a vulture, an angry mob chases him, and he is roped and the clover taken from him. There is no real obscene language in this movie; however, there are still words that they could have avoided. Boob and idiot are used numerous times, as well as fatboy and moron. There are a few other items that may offend: A painting in the Mayor Hall of Fame shows the first Mayor of Who-ville as a caveman; Horton has a young friend who has a speck of her own and says on her speck everyone worships her. The Mayor has 97 children, 96 daughters and one son. The Mayor’s son, Jo-Jo is odd. He dresses in all black, wears his hair different, and doesn’t talk. He is silent because he is afraid of not living up to his father’s expectations. In the end we find that he expresses himself differently, but that he is a valuable member of Who-ville. As I watched this entire movie, I kept thinking this movie was made by pro-lifers. I am sure that there were others who thought about other less fortunate groups of people. However, this movie is an excellent way to talk to your kids about the unborn. Kangaroo says to her son Rudy and to Horton – “If you can’t see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn’t exist”. That is the argument made by pro-choice people all the time and as Horton points out repeatedly, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Horton defends those too small to defend themselves. That is an important message for children to learn. Whether it is the unborn, small animals, or just people who are not in the position to defend themselves, our world would be a little nicer place if we could teach our children this important principle. The concept of believing in something you cannot see is also a theme in this movie. The Mayor knows that something bigger is holding the clover. He places his faith in Horton to get them to safety. Children do not always understand God because they cannot see him. They don’t grasp that something bigger than us is out there. This movie can help explain that concept. There is also a scene in the movie that can be interpreted several ways. Towards the end of the movie, Kangaroo’s son leaves the pouch against his mother’s authority to save the people of Who-ville. Although, I want don’t want my children to rebel against me or authority, I want them to understand that sometimes to do the right thing, you have to go against what everyone, including those in authority have said. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34-36:
There is also a wonderful scene of forgiveness. Kangaroo led a crusade against Horton the entire movie and in the end, he goes to her and offers her a cookie. In the Bible, Jesus is our example of true forgiveness. In Luke 23:34, He says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Horton understands true forgiveness is forgiving those who have done the greatest harm to you. Overall, I recommend this movie. It is cute and entertaining. It held my littlest one’s attention the entire movie and it was something I could take my whole family to see. While the original Dr. Seuss cartoons from years ago are great movies, and this cannot take the place of the original drawings direct from the book; I know that my 5 and 3 year old will want to own this when it comes out. Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - Of all the Dr. Seuss adaptations, Horton Hears a Who is by far my favorite. It had my kids and me laughing! The theme seemed to be that a person is a person, no matter how small. (Now, if only left liberal Hollywood really felt that way! A baby is made at conception, not 9 to 12 weeks later!) Horton was a loyal friend, and gave his all to the goal he set - protecting the people living on the speck. Positive - I took my 11 year old daughter to see this movie with a group of girls at a birthday party. I did wonder how a book that can be read in 10 minutes could be made into a feature length film, but it has been done and done quite well. The quality of the computer generated graphics was amazing! They really managed to keep the Dr. Seuss look of each character. The story line of the book wasn't really altered. Of course the it was added to in order to make a movie.
I didn't really find anything offensive. The only thing that bothered me (and this isn't in the book) was that the kangaroo makes a comment about 'pouch' schooling her child because Horton is crazy and he is apparently the teacher of the jungle children. She does it in a 'holier-than-thou' way and she ends up being the crazy one for hounding Horton and getting the whole jungle to cage him.
Otherwise it is probably a good movie for little kids. My daughter liked it. Positive - What a delightful movie! I even laughed out loud several times. It was witty, with some modern improvisation, in addition to Dr. Seuss' marvelous text. The children in the audience with me seemed to really enjoy it. The story depicted the good values and principles of loyalty and kindness and sincerity and faithfulness and respect for even the least of men. I hope the message made an impact on some young person's life. The animation was quite brilliant, as well as the voiceovers. Highly recommended for all. Positive - My 13 year old daughter and I just viewed this movie and we both really enjoyed it. We had been looking forward to it's release for over a year now. We had read about it and how it can relate to the pro-life message on the Elijah list and then we heard Lou Engle (from the Call) share about this on a CD and DVD. At that time, I read the book to a group of children I work with and we began praying the prayer, 'Lord, I plead your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation, God end abortion and send revival to America.' I could see the pro-life theme all through this movie and it encouraged me that we need to continue to let our voices be heard to end abortion.
The movie was pretty clean, had humor and moved pretty quickly. The only thing I thought of, is if you have very small children, or children who get frightened easily, the scene with the vulture and also the Kangaroo trying to put the clover in a boiling pot could be scary for them. Other than that, there were no scary characters or scenes. I was pleased also, becuase our theatre only showed G and PG previews, sometimes the previews they show can be a problem...maybe Hollywood is learning something! :-) Positive - What a surprise! We all know the story of Horton the Elephant but this movie carries an even stronger pro-life message than the book. After the final scene (which I will not spoil) you and your children will have an opportunity to talk about the existence of our unseen but merciful God. Self-sacrifice and keeping a promise are also prevalent themes in this excellent family movie.
The movie quality is very good, as it is directed by someone formerly trained at Pixar, I'd call it Pixar-esque. I especially liked the 'Who' world which feels like an amazing 3-D version of Dr. Seuss' books.
For Christians, this is a clean humor movie to enjoy (and we should support such movies!). Highly recommended. Positive - I have to say, I laughed the whole way through this movie (along with all the 10-year-olds). There was nothing truly objectionable- the 'boob' word certainly could have been left out, and the vulture was moderately scary, but otherwise nothing really struck me. Horton's courage and kindliness would make a good object lesson for any child, and the mayor's interaction with his family was truly wonderful to watch. I especially liked the support that his wife offered him.
I don't care that I'm not in 4th grade, I'm buying this when it comes out on dvd. This is such a step above of those other 'kid' movies (like Shrek). Very enjoyable to watch. Positive - My husband and I, another couple and our 2mth old son went to see this movie and I thought it was soo cute! I didn't find anything objectional in it, and as an adult I laughed quite a few times! I thought it had a good moral to it and was a nice family movie. Positive - I just took my kids to see this movie and have to say I thought you could apply biblical principles to it to teach your child about faith and God. I love movies and never really analyze them, I just go for the entertainment value and leave it at that. As I sat watching Horton, the mama kangaroo in the movie tells all the other forest animals, 'If you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, then it doesn't exist'. I sat thinking I would have to explain this to my son that just because we cannot see, hear or technically feel God, that it does not mean he does not exist. As the movie went on, the animals of the forest were pressuring Horton to say that Whoville did not exist and if he admitted this, then they would let him go (they had him tied up trying to take the clover away from him), translation.....deny God exist and conform to the way of the world and life is much easier on and for you (no persecution, conviction). Then the child of the mama kangaroo takes the clover from her and stops her from boiling the clover/speck (whoville) and all the others stop and listen and realize that Whoville is real and they follow the child, translation...And a child will lead them. Lastly, the mama kangaroo is walking off by herself feeling defeated and Horton forgives her, translation.....forgiveness and that we all make mistakes and sin and God our father daily forgives us. Like I say, NEVER do I analyze movies, but all this just came to me as I was watching and I thought what a great teaching tool for the kids. Anyway, my kids loved it and I thought it was a cute movie, so I say take your kids to see it! Positive - This movie was WONDERFUL!! I am a HUGE Dr. Suess fan and last summer when I saw the previews for this, I told my boyfriend 'You have to take me to see that!', well he did and I LOVED it! He also laughed out loud several times.... The Mayor has some hilarious scenes and even had me to tears laughing! The story is so sweet & just like the book!! I loved it!! I am a major cry baby when it comes to movies, and I'll admit, I cried a few times during this movie... especially at the very end... and the message is ever so important 'A persons a person; no matter how small!'
There is NOTHING objectionable in this movie, at all. No bad words, not even any potty humor. Just plain, clean, funny, cute movie....
I loved it & can't wait to own this on DVD!! Positive - Great movie! Could be scary for the smaller kids in some places. They over did the needle thing at the dentist. That could really scare some of the children. Other than that, very well done and fun to watch. Positive - I took my son to see this movie and we both enjoyed it. The words from
the kangaroo 'if you can't see it, hear it or feel it it doesn't exist' kept replaying in my thoughts, how sad that the world feels this way about God.
I just kept thinking how the Mayor in Whoville had faith in Horton just as we have faith in God for all our needs.
Whether you're a Christian or not this movie had a point, 'People are people no matter how small', this would include fetuses and people we don't always acknowledge such as homeless, drug addicts, runaways, prostitutes, celebrities gone bad, people who are sold and enslaved in human trafficking.....People we should always help and pray for!!! Positive - I took my three kids ages 8, 6, and 4yrs. They enjoyed it very much. I also enjoyed it and laughed out loud at the end scene where the animals sin 'I can't fight this feeling any more!' Very cute and funny. Only one 'shut-up' and nothing else offensive. I would recommend this film to all. We have the book and I thought that the story stayed true to the book with some added explanations. All my children stayed interested and laughed the whole time. It's nice to see something that is truly a kids film that I don't have to worry about. Truly a film that has some moral quality and good values (forgiveness, standing up for your values, and dedication/ caring for other wellbeing) Go see it! Positive - I was very surprised because a lot of Children's movies have adult content and concepts that I don't think children are able to understand. I didn't notice any of that with this movie. I thought it was a decent film that children could thoroughly enjoy and route for the good guys. Positive - This is an awesome film. I vaguely saw anything morally objectionable. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell (Michael Scott from 'The Office') are equally talented in Horton the elephant and the Mayor of Whoville.
I give it two thumbs way up! I was not bored with this movie. It wasn't the best I've seen so far this year but it wasn't the worst. Positive - Not since I've seen Curious George have I seen a movie that was this uplifting. I took my family and three of my son's friends to see it. It was very funny and at the same time had a great message for all. I highly recommend it! Neutral
Neutral - My twin 7 year olds loved the movie. My 12 year old thought it was just ok. The movie was cute and held everyone's interest. I did have a problem with the kangaroo however. Kangaroo is a control freak. She wanted to run the jungle and have everyone do what she wanted. She 'pouch schooled' her son and was always pushing him back into her pouch. At the end of the movie the kangaroo was trying to get everyone to rope Horton and throw him in 'jail'. She was saying that he was a danger to the kids, he was teaching them to use their imagination and that would cause them to disrespect authority etc. I wouldn't have had a problem with her if they hadn't chosen to make her a 'pouch schooler'. She is so opposite of what most homeschoolers stand for. I am disappointed that they chose to portray homeschoolers in such a negative light. My 12 year old even caught it without me saying anything about it.
I was so looking forward to the movie with my girls and was very disappointed. Neutral - In watching Horton Hears a who, i was made aware of yes, the Pro-Life quality,but deeper than that- the ability to stand when all else or all others deny your faith. I found a prophetic notion in the movie. Its what it will be like in the end days; what it is like even now in some areas of the globe- believers backed into corners, Believers chastized, Believers being subtly or conspicuously challenged abou--t what they believe. But its also about the christian loving the enemy, even when they hate you. Just like Jesus still loved those who were sneering at him. Just like Horton is still friends with the abominable Kangaroo.
Negative
Negative - Ok this was the worst hour and a half of my life. I thought this was going to be a really funny movie .Although I had my doubts I thought what the heck. If you are over 11 years old you will be probably be bored to tears. I went with two other poeple so I did not take a seperate car, otherwise I would have walked right out of the movie theater. But I would have to say that it was a very clean movie for children. And they would probably like it. Neutral - Overall I thought the movie was cute. I gave it a 'neutral' rating, however, because the 'villian' in the story made a comment about her joey being 'pouch schooled.' Of course, she came across overbearing and sometimes down right rude. I'm not sure about the statement that they were making with this, but it left me unsettled. I left hoping (and praying) that it didn't leave my homeschooled daughter feeling like a 'freak.' Negative - I read a few comments here after the first weekend it was in theatres, and I was glad to see many positives, and we decided to budget this for a Sunday afternoon. The last movie we attended (with our children who are now 4 and 7) was Curious George, so needless to say we are careful what is put before our children's eyes.
We were impressed that Hollywood would even consider making a high-quality and outwardly pro-life movie.
The first 10 minutes were a wonderful introduction into the vivid world of Dr. Seuss on the big screen, and the set-up for the story was well done.
15 minutes into the movie and Hollywood hurls a huge boulder at homeschoolers with the villain Kangaroo making a statement that her child is 'pouch-schooled', and she snubs everyone and hurls insults at Horton. And throughout this movie she is the best example of a demented character that I have seen in a long time. And to add to that fact, she cant decide whether to sacrifice her child to the Vulture or not.
I also found it ironic that this movie comes on the heels of California making the decision to ban homeschooling unless you have a teacher's credentials.
What a complete insult to everything Dr. Seuss was about...what he believed in.
So here is what we are left with....Hollywood makes a 'Pro-life' movie, waters down the pro-life message, fills it with time consuming issues that will stretch out the video time to be movie-worthy, then call it a Dr. Seuss movie without the essence of Dr. Seuss' message. Not only that, they insult homeschoolers, who by far have the highest rate of passing and scoring highest on the SAT. They also insult us with not having an imagination (my daughter is aspiring to write a book....she is 7, and son who is 4 will be at 1st grade level by the summer), and further insult us by depicting this homeschooling kangaroo as ignorant, self deluded, and would go to any extremes to make everyone believe that she is right, even if it means sacrificing the lives of innocent people (who's in whoville).
And what an excellent platform to stand on....put out a movie with an originally conservative message, then water it down and bash the very people (many of the same people paying for the movie tickets) to see it, and make millions all at the same time. Great tactic....really!
You (Hollywood and whoever else was involved in this one) could have done so much with this...could have delivered not just a kids movie, but delivered a masterpiece with the originality and essence of Dr. Seuss, but instead you succomb to the typical agenda that movies must be made a particular way with great effects to garner as much profits as as possible and not offend anyone (except homeschoolers and conservatives).
If Hollywood had used any other story I probably would not be as steamed as I am about this one.
I am very surprised this seemed to just pass by many of the folks who already left comments. Comments from young people
Positive - My friend and I had been planning to go to this movie ever since we had seen the trailer. We both absoulutely LOVE the Dr. Suess books and loved the idea that this book was finally coming out on film. Overall it was a great film!! It contained a great message, and surprisingly most of the peole in the theatre were over ten. Not only is this a great movie to go to with your younger children, but it is entertaining for teens, parents, and even grandparents. I would highly encourage that you go see this movie and hear the great message it offers. Positive - I thought it would be boring or lame but no matter the age you will love the animation and good humor. I saw it with adults teens and little kids. Everyone loved it. Usually I like gore and action but this really was good. Believe it or Not. Positive - The movie was great! It was clean, funny, and enjoyable for all ages. There were kids aged 7 to 15 in our group and everyone enjoyed it enough to want to see it again.
The movie had great morals. It talked about believing in things even though you couldn't see, hear, feel, or smell them. It also said that a person is a person no matter how small. Despite what everyone else was telling him, Horton was determined to do what was right and keep his promise, insisting 'I meant what I said and I said what I meant.' We had some good conversations about it afterwards.
The animation was incredible - it's amazing to see how far it's come in just a few years! All the little details added in were a lot of fun -references to other Dr. Seuss stories like a character carrying a plate of green eggs and ham - I loved it!
There was just one thing in the movie that offended me, although it didn't ruin the movie. The kangaroo mother, who is portrayed as too strict and keeping her son from the fun the other kids are having, sees the children playing with their teacher, Horton, and says 'That's why I pouch-school my son!' I felt like it made home-schooling sound bad.
However, despite that comment, I really enjoyed the movie! It was nice to see a movie that was clean enough that I could recommend it to anyone. This is definitely a family movie! Positive - It's good but long. I really liked it. There's nothing bad in the movie, though it is very wacky(like most Dr. Seuss books and movies). I think it showed good values because it shows that a person is a person no matter how big you are and that you have to keep on trying even though there are obstacles ahead of you. Positive - This film is great for all ages. I went with my Sunday School Class and we all loved it. It has a great story line and is very clean. At the end characters 'forgive and forget' each others differences and even know the kangaroo is kind of mean to Horton he stills forgives and becomes friend with her in the end. It is a great, funny movie! Positive - I seriously don't understand why many people find this movie so... well, offensive. I understand that to SOME people, I'm still considered a 'kid' so my opinion will seem 'immature' but I know what I like and I think that this movie is fine. There are some mature jokes that probably won't seem that attractive to parents bringing their kids, but to me, they're going to be bombarded with this type of humor anyway so they might as well understand just how far they should be allowed to go. If the parents don't want their kids watching this stuff with their money, then that's their problem. Otherwise, let the children enjoy the flick.
My review of this movie: I LOVED IT! Very funny and hyper, although targeted for a younger audience, I couldn't help but enjoy it. Unfortunately, I was waiting for a friend to show up so missed the first 5-10 minutes or so of the movie. It's not so bad though because after watching what I didn't miss, I am most definately buying the DVD!! |
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