Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

I watched ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ in a movie theater full of kids ranging from 3-10 years of age, which gave me the perfect audience with a mix of adults to get the right movie experience for this film. This movie exudes cuteness and the right amount of singing, the bits of comedy it has just made me smile and a couple of children laugh. There was no crying or chattering in the audience, which tells me the film’s 94 minutes are the perfect amount of entertainment for its target audience. The brilliant colors and clever shapes and storyline were even more fantastic in IMAX 3D, although ‘Horton Hears a Who’ achieved the same visual greatness without IMAX 3D.

The film begins by explaining in singing our setting, Thneedville, which is a city, made of plastic entirely, there’s no nature; trees are made in a factory and the most powerful man in town and the villain, Mr. O’Hare (Rob Riggle) made his millions by selling air. A 12 year old boy, Ted (Zac Efron) who is in love with a high schooler, Audrey (Taylor Swift) who dreams of seeing a real tree; decides to go on a quest to win the girl’s affection by getting her what she wants. He travels outside of the “capsule” that is his city to the contaminated world beyond in search of The Once-ler (Ed Helms) who according to his grandma Norma (Betty White) is the only person that can lead him to the free oxygen producing trees.

Here is when we being to discover the story of The Lorax (Danny DeVito) who speaks for the trees and cares for nature. What Ted finds in his journey not only changes his life but that of the whole town and the main message of the movie comes across, that each and single one of us makes a difference and we all need to care for our planet.

DeVito’s voice is perfect with that of the furry chubby Lorax, he’s a like a wise joke cracking grandpa that teaches just in the right tone. Efron is laid back and curious just the right amount to depict a 12 year old. White is the best character, the crazy grandma that is always covering for her grandchildren. Every voice created the characters depicted on the screen and together created a very pleasant movie to watch.

The environmentalist message of the film and the dangers of industrialism are very clear; that it takes one person to care so that we can come together as a whole to save the planet and the beauty it offers. I personally didn’t care for the “love story” in the film, but it was easy to over look it, with all the other more important stuff happening, even if it was what pushed the storyline. A children’s movie that has such an inspiring and important message with enough entertainment and color is a nice treat to both parents and children to see.