The Lorax is a CGI feature film and adaptation of the Dr. Seuss children’s book of the same name. It is about a boy who wants to bang the girl next door really bad. She suggests, as all girls usually do, that this might be possible if he were to bring her a IRL tree. This is because they live in the town of Thneedville which is governed by plastic and the omniscient O’Hare company that has made a fortune selling fresh air to the locals and no one except for Betty White actually know what a tree is. Also: trees don’t exist anymore because the humans cut them all down. In the pursuit of sex, the boy sets out to find the reclusive Once-Ler in a quest to discover what it takes to get the girl of his dreams in the sack and, through a series of flashbacks, the Once-Ler’s rise and fall is depicted alongside the wanton destruction of the environment at the hands of filthy unwashed human interference despite the titular Lorax’s attempts to dissuade him.
Because this is a children’s film made for children based on a short children’s book that was also made for children, The Lorax faces roughly three challenges. 1) Keep the kids distracted using cheap gags and cut-aways early and often. 2) Keep adults engaged with a somewhat topical message of corporate greed and environmental destruction. Throw in a few voices they might recognize as well so they can be all like “Hey! It’s that guy! Wasn’t he on The Daily Show once?” 3) Pad the running time as much as possible in order to show that this is, in fact, a movie. Maybe throw in a few forgettable music numbers and moar whacky-cute-and-not-at-all-subtle animal hijinks as a sort of wink-wink to the audience. Blammo! Box Office gold!
So I guess the question is, does The Lorax succeed in its mission to entertain? Certainly. Your kids will probably take to it, and I think it would make a pretty good spring board for signing on to certain green causes. I was impressed by the colorfulness of the visuals and a few spots where they turned the camera into a roller coaster ride. However, I also thought that the environmental story was a little too heavy-handed (even though the source material could also be argued as such). From a completely observational standpoint, the constant nagging that humans fucked over the planet grows increasingly tiring and jarring. “Oh, here’s the plot. Time to move things forward!” And then 20 seconds later, “Alright, time to tell everyone how bad humans are to the environment!” Okay. Got it. Thanks.
ThomFiles 