Dr. Seuss’ tale of environmentalism is given the big budget Hollywood treatment with this re-imagining from Illumination Entertainment. His parable of conservation was already pretty simple in the extreme, so creating full length material from the straightforward narrative is a bit of a challenge. Screenwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul try to remedy that with a more complicated story and additional personalities. The people in Thneed-Ville live in a corporately run town with nary a tree or plant to be found. It’s a synthetic, pre-fabricated habitat. Young 12 year old Ted is smitten with older high schooler Audrey. She longs to see a real living tree and this provides Ted’s reason for venturing out from within the safe city walls to see if he can locate one. All of this is extraneous to the original fable which began in a barren wasteland with no mention of this alternate, plasticky town. Also added to the mix are songs with music by John Powell and lyrics by Cinco Paul. Many start with the strumming of an authentic guitar and then launch into a synthesized reproduction of music. The tunes are perfectly constructed examples of the most defiantly non-organic product. Apparently digitally enhanced voices and the lack of genuine instruments is an irony that I think was lost on the filmmakers.
The Lorax is a mixed bag. There are some bright spots. The animation is vivid and there are a trio of fish that sing in unison with amusing high pitched vocals. They are memorable. They’re reminiscent of character types in early Max Fleischer shorts. But the Lorax himself, which should have been a tragic figure, is an annoying pain every time he shows up here with a lecture. The movie is a product of our modern age. I’ll admit I was amused by the irony of a film warning against the dangers of consumerism in a movie that totally represents that mentality. The 3D computer graphics are oddly inappropriate for a story about going back to basics. The script is like a result of some focus group trying hard to be hip. Phrases like “You rule Grandma!” or “I know, right?!” are so distinctly 2012 that they betray the timeless quality of the original message. Dr. Seuss adaptations have been historically difficult. The Cat in the Hat remains one of the worst aberrations of the source material ever made. Yet these are the same scribes that adapted Horton Hears a Who! and that was rather charming. The Lorax isn’t a horrible picture. It’s a vibrant, colorful spectacle that is pleasant enough. The pro-environment moral is well intentioned. But the simplicity of the book is missing. In its place is a heavy handed tale of corporate greed that feels labored and somewhat joyless.
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