Question about the release of "The Lorax" in March 2012

I agree Horton was cute, but it could be terrible as some live action cartoon movie. I like both versions as well.

Ok! I wasn't sure, myself.

Yeah I guess reboot is the more accurate term.

This whole thing is just such a crime to me. The original Lorax book and cartoon is so incredibly dark and melancholy and spot on regarding environmental issues. And for this monstrosity to now come along and destroy all that just really makes me angry, lol.

From what I understand, a fourth one WAS in the works, supposedly the sub-villain of this one was supposed to be a "Dr. Strangelove", but I guess that ended up becoming The Love Guru instead, because people have reviewed that it's like Mike Myers basically, "Took an Austin Powers scripts, scratched out 'groovy spy' and replace it with 'creepy Indian'."

I also remember reading at one point that Myers wanted to do as many Austin Powers movies as there were James Bond movies... not sure how well that would have worked. I think perhaps a spin-off movie focusing on Scotty becoming evil may have made for like a good revenge story: spending all those years not being able to measure up to Dr. Evil's expectations, and then when he finally does Dr. Evil goes straight when he realizes Nigel Powers is his real father and that Austin is really his brother.

SCOTTY: You'll pay... you'll ALL PAY! *Runs away like a girl*
DR. EVIL: I would just like to point out that no one else in my gene pool runs like a girl...

I know what you mean. I saw Scooby-Doo 1, and wanted to send a long letter of complaints to the Director.

I can't believe how layered that movie was. It's one of the few times they add something to the source material, and it's all the stronger for it. It dealt with some heavy themes, but didn't come off a depressing mess. I dug the Hanna Barbera cartoon, and I also liked the New Addams Family series (the few episodes I've seen), but there's something very special about the movie. And I WANTED to see the musical, but it cost too much money that I don't have.

Like I said, it looks like all of that is an anecdote to a generic kiddy flick. The cartoon special went even deeper than the book, bringing up a moral dilemma for the Lorax... The Onceler pulls the Lorax aside at one point and says "what about the jobs? If I stop, hundreds will be out of work." And the Lorax replies "I don't know the answer to that." It brought a small sense of balance to the story with that one line, adding the discussion of progress and preservation.

As for the movie, I was pleasantly surprised by the studio's Despicable Me, and my only complaint is that it needed a little more mad science. There was nothing in that film more precious than Gru, annoyed, reading the book about the kitties, and getting misty eyed on the last page. That was such a sweet catharsis for the character. Not to mention the depth of the character stemming from mommy issues. There's supposed to be a sequel, and I hope it keeps the integrity of the first movie... and has actual merchandise you can buy in stores. I desperately wanted a Minion figure after seeing the film.

But like all movies I complain about, I'll eventually wind up seeing it and probably liking it to some extent. The only reason why I'd see it though is because Danny Devito is one of my favorite actors and just to shove it in Lou Dobbs's sourpuss Neo-con face.

Exactly, it basically took a pretty good idea and made it even better, which is rare.

It's rare for adult movies to be that insightful today, never mind kid's movies.

Something I suddenly thought about: All the Dr. Seuss animated TV specials were great, and with the exception of Daisy-Head Maisie, all of them had Dr. Seuss's involvement. Makes me wonder if any of these Dr. Seuss movies would have been a lot better if Seuss was alive and able to work on them.

The thing is, most of the time, a "kid's project" is a hundred times more insightful than an adult project. I don't see why kid's shows make such esoteric references and "adult" shows don't. Even today! Brave and the Bold is full of SOOOO much esoteric and biting things that only the older fans would appreciate. It's so full of nerdy insider jokes. One episode even had a dead on spoof of G.I. Joe PSA's worked right into the plot. Even Family Guy didn't nail them that hard. The last episode of the show was completely full of inside TV humor about shows going downhill and getting canceled. Even some of the best sitcoms don't get away with stuff like that.

And even some not that great kid's movies have insight. As much of a self congratulating stand up routine to animation Bee Movie was, it did shed to light the problems that will be caused by the dwindling bee population. Opened MY eyes up, I can tell you that. And as meh as the Alvin and the Chipmunks first movie was, it DID say some choice things about the music industry that you just can't get away with unless you have an underground expose documentary. If you can slip something slightly subversive or important into even the crummiest of kid's movies, there is something there.

I don't see it with this film at ALL. Any pro-environmental message it has is as plastic as the bottles people are too lazy to put in a separate bin in the first place. Much like ALL of GE's environmental initiatives. I bet they're looking for another government grant with this film. And I do NOT like the idea of the Lorax hocking a supposedly "eco-friendly" SUV.

That said, I wish I bought those Cat in the Hat movie action figures. I'd just pretend they weren't from the movie since they actually look like the book art cat.

Perhaps because traditionally it's assumed people will not notice if a message is delivered in kid format. They'll think, "Oh well they can't possibly be saying that, it's an innocent little kid's show!"

It's not just the "ooh, look at what slipped through the censors" Animaniacs "Finger Prince" line... it's stuff like the episode of Arthur "Never, Never, Never" where they snuck the entire plot of King Lear into a deceivingly simplistic story of D.W. and her little friends. There was a much less subtle Macbeth episode that managed to make little references here and there. Not to mention the episode that referenced Kafka's Metamorphosis. The Simpsons is basically one of the few adult series that makes references like that... Maybe South park as well. It's like all animation writers are English lit scholars or something.

Though it seems many parents have complained about certain things in kids programming over the years, though.

I watched the original Lorax TV special on ABC Family last december, and one thing I sort of noticed. It's in one song sung a few times, "For he's a jolly good onceler, aren't we all?" A catchy and soemwhat funny line (and it seems like they were singing a variation of "For he's a jolly good fellow"), but I thought Onceler was his last name, not his species, and then they act self-congraduatory. Though it seems they were all part of the same family so I guess that makes them all Once-lers.

And recently I wondered if avoiding The Once-ler's face was a way of calling him a faceless corporation (wait, is that a term? I've been thinking it is, but I also wonder if I suddenly thought it up recently and subconciously made myself think I'd heard the term).
Considering what we see of the Once-Ler and his family, I wonder if he could really be the Grinch... Since his arms and legs are green. Hmmm...

What I often find is that parents miss the "hidden" messages and end up complaining about minutia, lol.

Well I think the line is sort of meant to be ironic that we're all just as bad as this Onceler is.

I confess as a child I always just kind of took that for granted, lol.

I actually assumed his WAS the Grinch as a kid, I just didn't get why they were refering to him as "Once-ler".

The Grinch is a much different sort of character... The Onceler is someone who was a visionary who was so blinded by his own greed he brought the downfall of himself and others. The Grinch just feels alienated and hates the Whos.

Like I said, I'm going to complain, and moan, and groan about this, then I'm going to wind up seeing it, feel it isn't that bad for a few months and then flip flop back to saying it was lousy... like I usually do. It really feels that the biggest impact the book and original special have it's that Onceler cares so much about maximized profits and mass consumerism, that he completely forgets that what he's selling isn't being renewed, and therefore limiting his supply. Thus ruining the environment, and ALSO royally boning himself in the long term for short term gains. A message both of environmental conservation AND strategic business sense. had the Onceler planted 2 Truffula trees for every he chopped down (or better yet, just took half of each tuft), in time there would be more. It's that whole message that the logic of "There's always more! That's what More Means" is illogic. That's something that's probably going to be overlooked in the film.

Plus what I love about the Onceler is that he actually loves the Truffula trees. He's not just some one dimensional greedy villain, he has layers which allows him to feel guilt in the end.

I'll just avoid all that and not see the movie in the first place, hehe.

How true that is.

I watched the special recently, and the Lorax almost comes off as a jerk (or rather a "GIT OFFA MAH LAWN!!" type) when he first shows up, shouting at the Onceler to leave the trees alone, when the Onceler just gently picked the tree tufts and hand knitted one Thneed. You almost feel like saying, "HEY! Relax. The guy's just trying to create something." But at that point, there could have been compromising on the part of both of them. Two trees planted for every tree plucked (though I wonder how the story would have been affected if Seuss gave the explanation that said trees either grow a new tuft or not)... yet a plucked tree would be left still.

It's the Onceler's lazy, cut rate methods that do everyone in... polluting factories, massive deforestation, building a populous for those to live closer to work... that's where he goes wrong. If anything, both the environment and progress can co-exist with the slightest bit extra of effort. Especially at the end, the all too familiar "there's no work left" abandonment of an entire town. In the end, all that's left is a polluted, worthless, baron, ghost town that needn't have been if extra steps have been taken. Gently plucking some of the trees, shipping those tufts to another site (like a previously abandoned factory that's been refurbished), being mindful of the creatures habitats, letting more trees grow... nature is left relatively untouched, your source of income is renewable, so you have a steady stream of income and work coming in. It may have cost a little more in the short run, but in the long run, it pays for itself. But everything is about the get rich quick schemes, the short term profits at the risk of long term disasters... that's why most companies are screwed up.

If I were to have made this film, instead of that useless bit of some kid trying to get a girl to like him, I'd've added more allegories of why our system of capitalism
is so screwed up... I'd have the Onceler bought out for a small fortune, having the entire operation shipped off to be outsourced to Foomaphazoom where the Phazooms all live in one room, spending most of their profit on PR to make it look like everything they do is great, and lobbyists to make sure they can keep doing what they're doing, then filing for bankruptcy after a massive scandal and punishing everyone under the CEO and stock holders... all leading to the Onceler living alone, imprisoned in the wasteland remains. THAT'S the message we need besides the environmentalist message... that is greedy stupid people run big business when they're incapable to run a 2k.

Oh yeah you could definitely argue that the Lorax sometimes veers into annoying tree hugger territory, the same way the Onceler veers into annoying greedy Capitalist territory. They both have good points and bad points which makes the problem so difficult to solve.

And so, western civilization crumbles...

Well, if you look at the Lorax's point of view, it almost seems to me that he knew EXACTLY what could go wrong, and was very much that fearful that one little deed, even one with very good intentions, could lead down a very bad path in the end. Almost like he could sort of tell that Onceler would be so greedy that he'd let that cloud his judgement.

To me, the Lorax is like... uh... that guy in the "B" movie that says "no good can come from this." The one that if they didn't ignore, they're be no story.