History Literature / TheLorax

* VillainProtagonist: Technically The Once-ler.

''The Lorax'' was adapted into [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax1972 a TV special]] in 1972 by Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises. A [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012 feature-length film]] from the producers of ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' was released in 2012, with Creator/DannyDeVito as the title character.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Sort of. While on vacation in Africa, Seuss was charmed by some strange trees that he, being Dr Seuss, decided to call "Truffula trees". He was later shocked to see them being cut down and ran back to his hotel to start sketching out ideas on a notepad, with the Lorax being his AuthorAvatar.

''The Lorax'' was adapted into a TV special in 1972 by Creator/DePatieFrelengEnterprises and featured Bob Holt as the voices of the two main characters of the story. A [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax feature-length film]] from the producers of ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' was released in 2012, with Creator/DannyDeVito as the title character.

* AdaptationalHeroism: An added nuance in the AnimatedAdaptation is the Once-ler pointing out ''why'' he can't just shut down his factories in spite of being aware of the damage; doing so would put countless workers out of a job, atop of doing immense damage to the economy. The Lorax fully admits [[VillainHasAPoint he is genuinely right]], and that there is no easy answer on that front.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: All that is seen of the Once-ler are eyes and some green hands and legs. It is unclear over whether that's supposed to be clothing or his natural skin/fur color, though the [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax Illumination adaptation]] interprets him as a human who wears green gloves.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Played straight in the original story, with the Lorax being white and the Once-ler and his family being black. The situation of the story is portrayed less so in the AnimatedAdaptation - at one point, the Once-ler argues with himself about what he is doing, ultimately justifying his actions by claiming that if he didn't do it, someone else would, and points out that shutting down his factory would cause all of his workers to lose their jobs; [[VillainHasAPoint the Lorax admits that he has a point, and also that he himself wouldn't know the answer]].
** A possible answer to this is that the Once-ler could've repurposed his factories for something more useful to society, and not so destructive, setting an example for future generations to follow, or to replant truffula trees to replace what they cut, like the real logging industry does nowadays. Although it's mentioned in the animated version that truffulas take decades to grow to maturity so replanting wouldn't ease the habitat destruction problem fast enough to matter (a RealLife limitation of the practice, especially for hardwoods).
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In the AnimatedAdaptation, the Once-ler justifies his actions twice: the first time he notes that somebody else would have done it, and the second time he notes that if he closed the factory, then many people would be out of jobs.
-->'''Lorax:''' "I see ''your'' point, but I wouldn't know the answer."

* CanonForeigner: In the TV special, there are thousands of workers in the Once-ler's factory, while in the book (and later the movie), it was just him and his family.

* DarkReprise: The TV special has a whole bunch of these as everyone leaves the land.

* DespairEventHorizon: The poor Lorax crosses it when the last Truffula tree is felled.
* {{Determinator}}: The Lorax gives a speech that illustrates this well in the 1972 AnimatedAdaptation:
--> I speak for the trees! Let 'em grow, let 'em grow!\\
But nobody listens too much, don't you know?\\
I speak for the trees, and I'll yell and I'll shout\\
For the fine things on Earth that are on their way out!\\
They say I'm old-fashioned, and live in the past,\\
But sometimes I think progress is progressing too fast!\\
They say I'm a fool to oppose things like these,\\
But I'm going to continue to speak for the trees!\\
Yes! I'M GOING TO CONTINUE TO SPEAK FOR THE TREES!!

* {{Egopolis}}: In the animated version, a town springs up around the Thneed factory, with everything named after the Once-ler ("Onceler Hills", "Onceler Burgers", etc.) There's an OurFounder statue labeled "To Our Beloved Once-ler", but it only consists of a giant hand holding a sign reading "Thneeds".
* TheFaceless: The Once-ler and his family, as well as the man who bought the first thneed. In the 1972 adaptation, all of the Once-Ler's workers are this as well.

* HeelFaceTurn: Nearly happens in the TV special following the Once-ler's second IgnoredEpiphany. But then, it's averted, when the Once-ler's secretary informs him that the price of his company's stock had gone up more than $27. At that point, he goes into his tirade.

* IgnoredEpiphany: The Once-ler does this twice in the 1972 Animated Adaptation of this story. Once when the Bar-ba-Loots are sent away, and again when the Swomee Swans and Humming Fish leave. The latter instance segues into his rant from the climax of the book.
** In the 1st case, he reasons that someone else would do what he's doing so it wouldn't matter either way. In the 2nd, it looks like he's finally gotten the message and is about to turn around. But his secretary had the bad timing of informing about his rise in stock, triggering his greed.
* InformedAbility: In the animated special, the song "You Do Need a Thneed" lists a number of uses for the Thneeds, including a hammock, a toothbrush holder, a nest, an addition to soup, a grooming item, a dust cloth, a rust remover, a windshield wiper, a viper trap, a tobacco substitute, and a baby's diaper. We never see them used in any of these ways.
** Subverted when we see the first Thneed, as it ''visibly'' changes into a shirt, a sock, a glove, and a hat. Off-screen, it also turns into a pillow and a blanket.

* TheMusical: The TV adaptation.

* PanUpToTheSkyEnding: At the end of the animated special, as the little boy heads home with the last Truffula Seed, the camera pans up to the sky, where we see that the smog-covered sky has cleared slightly.

* VillainHasAPoint: The Once-ler in the AnimatedAdaptation special does make a valid point when he says that closing his factory will mean laying off 100,000 workers and be detrimental to the economy. Even the Lorax concedes that this would be an extreme solution.

* PlaceWorseThanDeath: “I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie.” [[/note]]While in the 1970s the industrial pollution in the lake really was that bad, some years later environmental researchers informed Seuss that efforts at cleaning the lake water had been successful, and he had the line removed from subsequent printings out of fairness to their work.[[/note]]

* PyrrhicVillainy: The Once-ler starts off with a factory and even makes a super axe hacker to chop down the Truffula trees four times as fast when the stock market quotes Thneeds, Inc. as up by 27 5/8 points... and then, just as the last Truffula tree has been cut down, the Lorax gave a sad backward glance and lifted himself by the seat of his pants through the smog clouds as the animals have migrated out of what was once paradise, and the Once-ler is left all alone with the lingering industrial waste pollution and the ruins of his abandoned factory.

* DownerEnding: The story ends with [[spoiler: [[DarkestHour the forest gone, the animals gone, the settlers gone, the city gone, the factory gone, and the Lorax gone]]. Only the Once-ler remains, who regrets his actions. However, there is one ray of hope: UNLESS. If the boy can regrow the forest and protect it, maybe the Lorax will come back. What makes this even more depressing in the animated version is that the Lorax attempts to tell the Onceler family shortly after they move in that it takes ten years for a Truffula seed to sprout, and ''at least'' ten more years for the sapling to grow. (It may well be more than that, but we never find out because the Lorax starts coughing in the middle of his speech because of all the car exhaust.)]]

* AllForNothing: The Once-ler's justifications for refusing to close his factory are that he'd have to lay off all his workers and destroy the local economy. But once the last of the Truffula trees has been cut down, thus things collapse anyway as the factory shuts down and the area becomes a ghost town.

%%* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Once-ler, though only in the sense that you never see any uncovered part of him.

* AllForNothing: The Once-ler's justifications for refusing to close his factory are that he'd have to lay off all his workers and destroy the local economy. But once the last of the Truffula trees has been cut down, no more Thneeds are made and thus things collapse anyway as the area becomes a ghost town and his factory is abandoned.

''The Lorax'' is a story written and illustrated by Creator/DrSeuss that was first published in 1971. It is an environmentally-oriented story about a person named Once-ler (shown only as a pair of green arms) who caused devastation to the land and was constantly scolded for it by a creature called the Lorax, whose warnings the Once-ler had ignored until it was too late.

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-The_Lorax_1098.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:200:He's the Lorax. He speaks for the trees.]]

** A possible answer to this is that the Once-ler could've repurposed his factories for something more useful to society, and not so destructive, setting an example for future generations to follow, or to replant truffula trees to replace what they cut, [[SocietyMarchesOn like the real logging industry does nowadays]]. Although it's mentioned in the animated version that truffulas take decades to grow to maturity so replanting wouldn't ease the habitat destruction problem fast enough to matter (a RealLife limitation of the practice, especially for hardwoods).

* RealityEnsues: The Once-ler arrives in a gigantic forest of trees and doesn't think he will ever run out of trees to cut down. Guess what happens at the end.

%%* ArcWords: UNLESS.

%%* TheAtoner: The Once-ler at the end.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: The Once-ler, though only in the sense that you never see any uncovered part of him.
* ArcWords: UNLESS.
* TheAtoner: The Once-ler at the end.

* ForestRanger: The Lorax.

* HeelFaceTurn: Nearly happens in the TV special following the Once-ler's second IgnoredEpiphany (see below). But then, it's averted, when the Once-ler's secretary informs him that the price of his company's stock had gone up more than $27. At that point, he goes into his tirade.

** [[RuleOfThree And another thing]]: what exactly does the Once-ler look like?, Tt's purposely left a mystery for the audience.

* RiddleForTheAges: ''Lorax'' is famous for its ambiguous ending involving the boy receiving the last remaining Truffula Seed after the story and whether or not he decides to plant said seed and grow a better, cleaner world.

** [[RuleOfThree And another thing]], what exactly does the Once-ler look like, it's purposely left a mystery for the audience.

* BittersweetEnding: Depending on your interpretation. See Downer Ending below for details.