"A person's a person, no matter how small."
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1954 children's book by
Dr. Seuss, adapted into a 1970
animated special by MGM Animation/Visual Arts (the studio responsible classic animated adaptation of
How The Grinch Stole Christmas) and a 2008 animated film from Blue Sky (the creators of
Ice Age). The book's plot also makes up a sizable part of the plot of the stage musical
Seussical.
The story is about a kindly elephant named Horton whose huge ears pick up a faint yelp coming from a speck of dust. After Horton saves the dust speck, and sets it on a clover, he discovers that it's actually a miniature planet populated by beings called "Whos". Horton is determined to protect the speck, but the other animals in his home of the Jungle of Nool think he's crazy for thinking there could possibly be any life on the dust speck. Led by the Sour Kangaroo (named Jane Kangaroo in the 1970 adaptation), the jungle animals try to separate Horton from the Whos. In the end, it takes all the effort of Horton and the Whos to prove that they exist and save the Whos from being inadvertently killed. In the end, the Sour Kangaroo makes amends with Horton and agrees to help him protect the Whos from harm.
Rare for Seuss, this book is the sequel to
Horton Hatches the Egg.
The book and its adaptations contain examples of:
- Adaptation Decay: To some, the 2008 film is an example of this. Still, it beats the hell out of the Cat in the Hat movie.
- Adaptation Expansion: The movie.
- Art Shift: Happens twice in the movie. The first time is a 2D animated sequence drawn completely in Seuss's style. The other is an Animesque action sequence/daydream.
- Ascended Extra: Jojo in both the movie and Seussical.
- Cameo: In The Movie, The Grinch!
- Where? I don't recall seeing him.
- He/she is talking about the 1970's TV version he makes a cameo in the Who chorus near the end.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Katie, in the movie.
- Also in the movie, Horton himself.
- Subverted in the book and in Seussical because everyone in the Jungle of Nool thinks that he's a tad off his rocker for hearing a Who.
- Just the sheer fact that he's voiced by Jim Carrey in the film qualifies him for this.
- Creepy Child: Katie in the movie. "Aaah..."
- Crowd Song: The end of the movie.
- Defeat Means Friendship
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Jojo in the movie, thanks to his Emo Teen setup.
- Karma Houdini: Sour Kangaroo, especially in the movie.
- Lickspittle: The small kangaroo in the book and animated special.
- Mind Screw: What the hell are you, Katie!?
- Misplaced Wildlife
- Narrator
- Nightmare Fuel: Your Mileage May Vary but Vlad the Vulture could definitely qualify
- And in the movie: again, arguably, Katie. Seriously, some of the faces she pulled will haunt my dreams forever.
- One Steve Limit: The Two Vlads.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Again, Katie.
- Shaming The Mob: Subverted, along with the Rousing Speech, in the movie.
- Toothy Bird: Vlad Vladikoff, a toothy vulture.
- Tree Buchet: How Horton gets rid of Vlad in the movie.
- What Do You Mean Its Not Political: Pro-life activists think this book was anti-abortion. Note to those activists: Dr. Seuss was pro-choice. According to his wife, the central allegory is about fascism and corporatism — "a person's a person, no matter how small" refers to big shot governments and businesses stepping on the common worker.
- In an even stranger twist to this implied political stuff, the kangaroo in the 2008 movie is a parody of Moral Guardian social conservative Christians, i.e., the kid being "pouch schooled" and phrases like "poisoning our children". But the movie also seems to be leaning toward proving the existence of a Christian God through the speeches about the invisible elephant in the sky, and the kangaroo is the one with a lack of belief in things she can't see.
- This is probably also a case of Misaimed Fandom, not to mention a serious failure on the author's part to think through the implications. It's a lot easier to view the story as a pro-life tract than an allegory for big business.
- Word Of God: If I recall correctly was that the Whos stood for the Japanese during the occupation of Japan, being both literally and figuratively smaller then their victorious occupiers.
- * Really? Have you seen Seuss' WWII cartoons? They were very "down with all Japs".
- ** The book was written after Ted Geisel visited Japan after the war, and apparently he had a change of heart. ...no, really. In an interview he explained that, and also added how Jojo's "Yopp!" was his statement on how every vote counts. You can find it in the book "Dr. Seuss Goes to War", and where the interview came from. Unfortunately I don't have the book on hand. So basically, anything to do with religion and fetuses is what people tried to get from it- his original intention was a book that was basically an allegory for how every voice: literally counts.
- Could also be an allegory for God. The kangaroo doesn't believe in something she can't see, feel, or touch. Sound familiar?
- Uh... I think it just means that people are still people no matter who they are. It's practically Dr. Seuss' version of The Golden Rule, even if people are somehow different from you, they should still be treated as people. Or, at least, that's what I think. ^^;
- The Film Of The Book
- What Measure Is A Non Cute: Subverted; the main villain is a kangaroo.
