Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who

Copyright 2008, Twentieth Century Fox

There are a few glaring problems with the bright and complicated animated film Dr. Seuss' Horton Heras A Who, one of which involves the companies behind the film, Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky, one of which involves the starring cast and the choices they've made or been coerced into making, and one of which involves the story. It's a credit to the overall production that, though it's not worth recommending, the movie doesn't fail in any way.

But let's get to the hard stuff first. Movies like Ice Age and Robots feature big stars and stylish if over-the-top setpieces. The only good thing about the former film series are the film short-worthy sections starring Scrat, the squirrel-weasel hybrid looking for one acorn. Of course, they suffer the same problems as the rest of the movie does in terms of its Rube Goldberg setup, but they only last a few minutes and are quite funny. For the latter film, watching the amount of detail in how intricately designed the world is and how quickly it can fall apart is entertaining, but there's no actual story.

And so it is with Horton, a film with fascinating and colorful animation that is bogged down in the little details, from ways to make music, how to get to an observatory, and how to walk up a mountain. There is also the problem of the cast; when Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, and Carol freaking Burnett are in your movie, it better be damned funny. As it should be when Robin Williams and Mel Brooks are in your cast. As it should be when Denis Leary and John Leguizamo are in your cast. And as it should be when Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, and Ricky Gervais are in your cast. That last film, Night at the Museum, is what I thought of when watching this film, about a goofy elephant (Carrey) dedicated to saving an entire world located on a speck of dust; why waste the talents of actors like Carrey and Carell?

It's actually Carell who ends up somewhat untarnished here, as he's able to show off a bit of his Michael Scott persona as the mayor of Whoville, the only person Horton communicates with for the majority of the film. Carrey, however, chooses to be childlike in his delivery when not throwing odd pop-culture references at his young audience. But, the real problem is the story. No, not the elephant defending his little speck world; that I can buy. But who cares so much about a speck to rope and cage an elephant? I mean, really. Who gives a flying rat's ass?

And when compared with the other animated films that came out in 2008, WALL-E and Kung Fu Panda (not a great film, but much better than this), all this movie does is fill a temporary void for kids desperate for quality family entertainment. This isn't that quality, but I imagine that in the spring doldrums, Horton did the trick.

Two and a half stars out of four