The Bottom Line
Jim Carrey provides the voice of a lovable elephant in Horton Hears a Who!, a beautiful big screen translation of one of Dr. Seuss' most beloved stories. The film version of Horton Hears a Who! is a lively romp full of cute (as well as a few creepy) creatures brought to life by a talented voice cast. This is one animated movie you won't mind having your kid play over and over and over again.
Pros
- Entertaining for all ages
- Great lesson but one that's not pounded into your head with a hammer
- The animation's gorgeous and eye-catching
- Terrific collection of bonus features
Cons
- None worth noting
Description
- Featuring the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Amy Poehler, Seth Rogen, and Carol Burnett
- Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino
- Rated G for all audiences
- DVD Release Date: December 9, 2008
Guide Review - 'Horton Hears a Who!' 2-Disc Special Edition DVD Review
The Story
Horton the elephant is one of the friendliest creatures in the jungle of Nool. He loves everyone and would never hurt a fly, so when Horton hears a speck of dust crying out for help he has no choice but to try and save the speck's tiny inhabitants. His decision to help out the Whos who make the speck their home is met with hostility from some of Nool's citizens. But that doesn't stop Horton from trying to do what he knows is right because 'a person's a person no matter how small'.
The Bonus Features
Where to start? There are so many extra features on the Horton Hears a Who! 2-disc DVD that it's almost overwhelming. From a featurette on designing Horton to a behind the scenes look at the animators' performances which were used as a jumping off point for animating the film to a special bit on one of the film's most adorable creatures - Katie the Yellow Yak (I had no idea she was a yak!) - to an informative featurette with Horton talking about real elephants, it's an incredible collection of extras you won't want to skip over. There's also some deleted footage (make sure you watch this with the commentary track on) and an environmental lesson all of us can learn from. And as if the above mentioned bits aren't enough, there are interviews with the voice cast and the directors, a profile on Carrey voicing Horton, and a memory game for kids (okay, adults can play too).
