Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Horton Hears A Who! is both whimsical and heartwarming, and is the rare Dr. Seuss adaptation that stays true to the spirit of the source material.
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Videos & Photos
Movie Info
Horton the Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbors who refuse to believe it exists.
| Rating: | G |
| Genre: | Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family |
| Directed By: | Steve Martino, Jimmy Hayward |
| Written By: | Ken Daurio, Jon Vitti, Mike Reiss, Cinco Paul, Ken Daruio |
| In Theaters: | Mar 3, 2008 Wide |
| On DVD: | Dec 9, 2008 |
| Box Office: | $154.4M |
| Runtime: |
People Who Like this movie also like
Cast
as Hildy/Holly
as Hanna
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Additional Voices
as Horton
as Mayor, The Mayor of ...
as Kangaroo
as Vlad
as Morton
as Councilman/Yummo Wic...
as Dr. Mary Lou Larue
as Tommy
as Sally O'Malley
as Mrs. Quilligan
as Narrator
as Rudy
as Miss Yelp
as JoJo
as Hedy/Hooly
as Old Time Who
as Helen
as Heather
as Town Cryer
as Who
as Another Who
as Who Mom
as Who Kid
as Wickersham Guard 1
as Willie Bear
as Joe
as Who Girl
as Helga
as Obnoxious Who
as Katie
as Heidi/Haley
as Glummox Mom
as Wickersham Guard 2
as Angela
as Jessica
as The Dentist
as Kangaroo
as Vlad
as Councilman/Yummo Wic...
as Hildy/Holly
Friend Ratings
No Friends? Inconceivable! Log in to see what your friends have to say.
LoginCritic Reviews for Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
All Critics (133) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (103) | Rotten (28) | DVD (11)
Hollywood has finally found the key to bringing a Seuss story satisfactorily to life.
A frequently beguiling fantasy packed with ticklish sights and vocals
Horton started as a book, less that 40 pages long. To make it a feature seems just a little bit wrong. The magic of Seuss isn't quite there. It's got the look but it's missing some flair.
Taking on Seuss has proven a challenge for Hollywood, but a nice balance has been struck here between authenticity and new ideas. This one's a winner.
Horton Hears a Who! -- Dr. Seuss' imagination never goes out of style.
What is most remarkable about this film is the fidelity it retains to Seuss' work and intentions.
Audience Reviews for Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
I commend Dr. Seuss for his creative writing that intertwines silly and ingenious rhyming with a heartfelt message and story. In Hollywood, you can't just let talent like that be untouched, so what's Hollywood gonna do? They've gotta transform his book into a movie, and you know what? Surprisingly, this animated adaptation stays true to the source material... to an extent. Let's set this on a scale: the movie's an hour and 26 minutes long while the masterfully written counterpart hits less than 50 pages. An adaptation of the book would hit a mere 20 minutes. So, to prolong the running time, the creators of the adaptation decided to bring on additional writers to fill in the gaps. Let's say this: these writers hardly compare to Dr. Seuss. It's the same old "MTV-esque" jokes and pop culture references thrown in just so kids could get a quick laugh. Don't get me wrong though, the movie follows the same twists and turns as the book, but in between those turns are prolonged sequences of average dialogue. And the quality of this dialogue sticks out like a sore thumb especially when the film itself has sequences of Dr. Seuss' own writing within the mix. As you can see, there's two jarringly different types of dialogue within the film: one is witty, sharp, and smooth while the other is like any other average everyday type of banter. It gives the entire film an inconsistent tone. The original story had an incredibly pure and powerful message that was both direct and deeply moving. Fortunately, Hollywood didn't strip it out, but because of these tonal inconsistencies, by the time the film reveals its message, it isn't as powerful. As a matter of fact, even the 1970 TV adaptation of "Horton Hears a Who" executes its message and story more cohesively than this film.
All in all, Dr. Seuss' writing was so creative and influential that in fact, it brings out the rough edges to what may seem like Hollywood's attempt to revive a "non-relatable children's book", when in fact, the original children's book is the best version of the story. But, there's no doubt that if you haven't even touched the original story, this version'll suffice.
Super Reviewer
Great animation about an elephant called Horton who hears the Whos calling for help. They live in a speck on a clover.
Super Reviewer
Dr seuss is a genius!
Super Reviewer
Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Quotes
| Jessica: | My world is called JessicaLand, and everyone worships Queen Jessica because Jessica is so beautiful! |
| Angela: | Jessica... that was awesome. |
| Horton: | Hello! |
| Mayor: | Hello? |
| Horton: | I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but you're living on a speck. |
| Mayor: | Seriously, who is this? Is this Burt from accounting? |
| Horton: | And even though you can't hear or see them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small. |
| Katie: | In my world, everyone's a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies. |
| Horton: | That's beautiful Katie... in a really weird way. |
Discussion Forum
Discuss Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! on our Movie forum!
