invisibleunicornninja This is a great and well-made cartoon for children.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) I found "Horton Hears a Who!" a really forgettable watch. Just like with "The Cat in the Hat", I cannot really see what the hype is about. At least, Horton had a story, even if it was not particularly memorable. But the biggest problem for me was the animation. I know that Dr. Seuss' are usually more about words than about visuals, but this one here is really pretty bad, even for 1970. None of the animals in here are cute or somewhat interesting in terms of visuals and several characters randomly look like more harmless versions of the Grinch. There exist many cartoons with better animation from the 1940s and 1950s, many of them actually from filmmaker Chuck Jones himself. Disappointing to see an effort by him that has turned out so mediocre with all the great works he directed in the past. The only somewhat interesting thing here is that Jones, a true legend in his own right, voiced some of the characters and he almost never did that in his other films. But that's it. My favorite Seuss is still The Lorax and I can't really recommend watching "Horton Hears a Who!".

AaronCapenBanner Second animated adaptation of a Dr. Seuss story is narrated by Hans Conried (Boris Karloff having sadly passed away) and is about an elephant named Horton who discovers a microscopic community living on a plant that he desperately tries to convince his community exists, but they stubbornly refuse, both ridiculing Horton and trying to destroy the plant! Horton has a big heart though, and decides that this intelligent tiny civilization is worth preserving... Well-intentioned special has a good message but decidedly mediocre songs, and is mostly forgettable, though the joke at the end about what the tiny community really is (we've seen it before...) is amusing, but that's all.

Lee Eisenberg 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.