Horton Hears a Who

By Matthew Rodgers

“On the fifteenth of May in the jungle of Nool, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool. He was splashing…enjoying the jungles great toys…When Horton the elephant heard a great noise” Welcome to the world of Dr. Seuss, from whose imagination kids around the world have been enchanted by stories of microcosmic universes and such eccentric characters as Daniel the Kick-a-Poo Spaniel and Dr. Derring’s Singing Herring’s. However, cinematic offerings have been a mixed bag thus far with the garishly awful Cat in the Hat and the enjoyably OTT The Grinch, thankfully the makers of Ice Age have made Horton Hears A Who a delightfully madcap 90mins of fun.

Upon hearing a cry for help from a speck of dust inhabited by Who’s (remember the pointy nose critters from The Grinch?) our pachyderm hero Horton (Jim Carrey) decides to help his unseen friends much to the displeasure of his sceptical neighbours and his own sanity.

Horton works on a number of levels; the animation is, as we’ve come to expect, stunning from Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age, Robots), they have a style that was initially distracting in its sheen but has now become their signature look. However eye-catching Animation can live and die by the quality of its voiceovers so it’s a joy to hear Jim Carrey in an unusually toned down mode as Horton and Steve Carrell being requisitely charming as the mayor of Whoville.

The source material has always been a problem with Dr. Seuss’ work, essentially short stories they require a lot of padding for the big-screen and although Horton never dilutes the “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small” message it does threaten albeit visually arresting hallucinogenic tedium at certain points.

To recap, step aside Dr. “Apart from Kaleidoscope colours you’ve seen the message before, but the hyperactive adventures young kids will adore. A warning for grown ups amongst their kids screams for “more!”, only outstanding voice work stops Horton being a bore.”