movie coverI'd rather be watching TV![IMDB link] [Netflix link] We put off watching this for awhile.

PEOPLE: Directed by an animator for Toy Story 2 and some other nobody, this did have well-known voice actors, none of whom we recognized while watching: Jim Carrey played Horton (but we never realized this while watching it, so it’s not “over-Jim-Carrey’ed” like some movies). Steve Carell played the mayor of Whoville. Carol Burnett was the bitchy Kangaroo. Will Arnett (aka GOB from Arrested Development) (who we had previously been on a quest to see every movie of) played Vlad, the vampiric vulture. Seth Rogan was Morton. Voice actor Jess Harnell, from Comic Book:The Movie, was in this too.

QUIRKS: Based on the Dr. Seuss book. Computer animation. There’s also a lot of subtle references to other Seuss works, that may be missed by anyone who doesn’t read the IMDB trivia page.

BAD STUFF: Mostly directed at kids. The humor is not particularly sophisticated. There aren’t [m]any jokes that only adults would get.

GOOD STUFF: This *is* a chance to see one of Dr. Seuss’s stories come to life. And there are some good lessons:
1) Just because you’re the only person who believes in something, doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
2) A person is a person, no matter how small.
3) Authoritarians who want their rules and opinions obeyed at all times are douchebags.

CONCLUSION: Generic pass. At least it looks nice in HD. Seuss is great, but this wasn’t really any more complex than the book itself.

RECOMMENDATION: Seuss fanboys might want to watch this. People who want something to watch with their kids could watch this — it’s not nearly as annoying as some of the childrens’ stuff out there.

MOVIE QUOTE: “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant — an elephant’s faithful, one-hundred percent.” Yes, this quote actually isn’t from Horton Hears A Who, but another one of Seuss’s stories with Horton. But it’s not like we remembered that. These were books we read as kids. It felt very authentic because Horton did say that in the books. Just not in this book. It’s still the quote-of-the-movie as far as I’m concerned.

FRIENDS’ RATINGS: Benj loved it. Christian D liked it.

Mood: welcome to hell
Music: Souls At Zero – Welcome To The 90s