Dr Seuss – he was a terrifying bastard, wasn't he? The 5,000 Fingers Of Dr T still freaks us out when we think about it, so imagine how we felt when we heard there'll be a Dr Seuss film coming out soon about an elephant talking to some dust.
However, this Dr Seuss film should be less likely to give us screaming night terrors, as it's a computer animated version of Horton Hears A Who featuring the voices of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. The inclusion in Horton Hears A Who of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey should hopefully ensure that the freaky magic of Dr Seuss will carry on to another generation. Unless it turns out like the Cat In The Hat film – that was a big bag of shit.
You know, we were just thinking the other day that there just aren't enough computer animated movies about animals around. Sure, there's Shark Tale, Finding Nemo, Shrek, Shrek 2, Madagascar, The Wild, Over The Hedge, Ice Age, Ice Age 2, Barnyard, Hoodwinked, the penguiny thing that's coming out soon and the film where Angelina Jolie plays a kung-fu tiger, but what about after we've sat through all those movies one after the other, slowly beginning to entertain the idea of self-harming just to make all the relentless barrage of bright colours and celebrity voices stop? What then?
Thank sweet Jesus himself that 20th Century Fox knows what to do – it's making a computer animated movie about an elephant talking to a piece of dust for two hours that features the voices of Steve Carell from The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Jim Carrey from all kinds of irritating films – it's Horton Hears A Who by Dr Seuss. According to The Hollywood Reporter:
"Horton" marks the first time Carrey will voice a CGI-animated character. He previously inhabited Seuss' world as the title character in Universal Pictures' "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas." "Horton" centers on an imaginative elephant who hears a cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Suspecting that there might be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community that thinks he has lost his mind, Horton is determined to help.
Yeah, an elephant that hears dust talking to him, that won't destroy our children's minds. In Horton Hears A Who, Jim Carrey has been cast as Horton while Steve Carell will play the mayor of Who-ville. And what's more, 20th Century Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri is certainly happy enough to talk about Steve Carell and Jim Carrey as if they were the finest actors in history:
"At the heart of the movies that we make are the characters, and in Horton, Geisel [Dr Seuss] has created a character with an unwavering moral center, a charming innocence, and a selfless willingness to protect others, even at his own expense. Geisel had one of the greatest imaginations of the 20th century, and Jim Carrey's extraordinary talents are a wonderful match to Geisel's vision. Steve Carell will not only be bringing his great comedic abilities to the role of the mayor but also his uncanny gift of finding the humanity in every character he plays."
Don't get too excited yet – these animated movies have a lengthy turnaround so you won't see Horton Hears A Who for quite some time yet. In the meantime, to get an idea of the story, why not go and make an elephant have a conversation with a piece of dust? Go on, do it. Alternatively you could just read the book. Or something.
Read more:
Ani Horton Calls Carrey Carell To Fox – Hollywood Reporter
[story by Stuart Heritage]