CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 3/14/08

A Screenplay That's Faithful, 100%

By peter clines

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!

Screenplay by Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio
Based on the book by Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss

One day Horton the elephant (voiced by Jim Carrey) hears a tiny voice come from a speck in the air—which is really a miniature city called Whoville, populated by thousands of Whos. Horton becomes friends with the mayor of the miniscule metropolis (v. Steve Carell) and vows to find a safe haven for the speck—even though the elephant's friends don't believe in Whoville and the Mayor's citizens don't believe in Horton. This film will be a real surprise for most viewers, considering the last good Dr. Seuss project involved Boris Karloff. It's a relief to see the characters avoid any major attempts to be trendy or modern, whether through actions, sight gags, or dialogue. In fact, the screenplay by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (College Road Trip) removes or changes almost nothing from the classic book and carefully mimics the off-kilter rhymes that Seuss was so well-known for to expand the story to a three-act feature. The end result is a fairly solid four-quadrant adaptation that blends new and old elements so well you'll find yourself struggling to remember if some of them were in the original book or not. Horton Hears a Who is a simple, refreshing, and enjoyable adaptation that pays great respect to the story we all grew up with.

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!
Twentieth Century Fox
Rated G; 88 min.

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Peter Clines has had a lifelong love affair with the movies. He grew up in New England, where he studied English literature and education, and now lives and writes somewhere in Southern California. If anyone knows exactly where, he would appreciate a few hints.

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! courtesy Twentieth Century Fox

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