Patman

(Did a search, but didn't see an existing thread. Please merge if such a thread exists.)

"Horton Hears a Who" will entertain both children and adults alike. The animation is engaging, and I enjoyed the character designs, and the overall environments of Horton and his pals, and of Whoville. Jim Carrey voiced Horton, the kind-hearted elephant who thinks he hears voices coming from a small particle that holds the entire Whoville universe, and ends up conversing with the mayor of Whoville (voiced by Steve Carell). Carrey does a fine job imbuing Horton with a sense of wonder and self-deprecation that makes him lovable and fun to watch, plus the animation of Horton is also very entertaining in most scenes.

The Who's are given equal time for the audience to get a glimpse into Whoville life, and some slapstick comedy bits are provided through the daily grind that is the mayor's life. Horton becomes protective of Whoville, using a dandelion to host the particle, and wanted to find a safe spot for Whoville, but there is always the doubters of Horton's story, and they will stop at nothing to discredit Horton, lest he convinces the children (of other cute animal characters) of the implausible existence of Whoville.

Overally, it was a fun movie, maybe about 5-10 minutes too long, but otherwise, a very enjoyable tale for all ages.

I give it 3 stars, or a grade of B.

PacMan2006

Went to try and see this at 12:15 pm and it was sold out. I was actually pretty shocked.

Patman

The general consensus of people leaving the theater at my viewing was very positive, people really enjoyed the movie, and clapped at the end (which was weird).

dcprules

How's the Ice Age 3 preview? I might check this out tonight but haven't decided yet...looks good and good reviews.

big whoppa

I wonder if the Who's of Whoville were always so tiny. These are the same Who's in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

The Antipodean

From the critical views sounds like they're finally doing right by Dr. Seuss after the "Cat" and "Grinch" live-action abominations. Animation is the way to go for Seuss, not movie stars in goofy costumes.

eedoon

Watched it Friday night. It's a pretty simple movie, but I liked how they executed it.

onebyone

Not too different from the Ice Age 2 preview, but still a lot of fun. It went over very well with the audience.

I liked the movie. It was a nice and funny and uplifting without being in your face, much like the story itself. The voice work was all really good, and I was very pleasantly surprised to hear Carol Burnett as I somehow missed her involvement. Thumbs up.

Giles

I actually enjoyed this alot, thought the animation was great and the voice work perfect - too bad it wasn't a REAL-D 3D release.

The Bus

I thought this was good. Formulaic, but the formula worked pretty well so it wasn't that bad. I do wish animated movies would use voice actors as opposed to just famous faces. Jim Carrey I thought was pretty bad. Give me Billy West any day.

The movie did drag on a bit, about 5-10 minutes too long. Not bad, and less uneven than Bee Movie although not much better. Some bits could've been better executed



but overall this wasn't bad. Not a movie I'd rush to see again though.

Rogue588

Except for REO Speedwagon, I agree.

Cheek

I totally agree. Horton Hears a Who! was way better than the other two. Also, the script writers did a great job. Creating something for the young and the old(er).

BobO'Link

I saw it with a child (age 4 1/2). He liked the Ice Age 3 preview better than the movie. So did I. He got bored several times and started asking about the video games in the lobby! There were far too many "pop culture" references (as seems to be the case with all animated films recently) which are typically just not funny IMO and tend to date films rather quickly. I commented to my wife that, with editing, it could have been an excellent 1 hour TV special but as a movie it went on a bit too long with superfluous and inconsequential scenes. I really felt like the writers ran out of good ideas as several sections could have been cut and many edited without affecting the outcome but they had to put *something* there to fill time because it's a *movie* and not a TV special. The butchered REO tune was way out of place and literally ruined what good I got prior to its' appearance. I did not like Jim Carey as the voice of Horton. The others I did not mind so much because I did not really recognize any other than Carol Burnett and would have rather not recognized her either. I, too, wish Hollywood would stop using "name actors" as voices for animated features. Voice actors would be far superior and hearing the "name" would not ruin what I'm seeing.

Would I see it again in a theater? No.
Would I recommend it to a friend? Not in the theater, only as a rental.
Would I rent it having already seen it? No.
Would I purchase a copy? For under $10, maybe.

It's films like this that are causing me to avoid the "theater experience" all together as for what I spent on 2 admissions (bargain matinee at that) and snacks I could easily purchase the title and have change once it hits the shelves. After 6-12 months I could probably purchase it for the price of a single theater ticket.

hotsexyboi

doesnt really interest me at the moment and the animation doesnt look too good IMO but I'll probably give it a shot one day

d2cheer

Saw this yesterday with my son who is 10 and we both loved it. I thought it was very well done for this type of movie. I really didn't want to see it because the trailors for it looked horrible IMHO that is, but it turned out really good. Loved the Ice Age 3 teaser...

Giles

I agree, that was one flaw I noted - even at 88 minutes, the film did seem to drag.

RichC2

That's going to be a common problem with the Seuss stuff, it just isn't meant to be 90 minutes long.

Giles

what does that mean exactly, someone else on another board made the same comment - are you talking about character design, style or what?! because what I saw looked like what I would envision what the Dr. Seuss world to look in GCI.

The Bus

There's a difference between Matrix jokes from Shrek (which was making fun of movies from 3 years before its release) and the jokes in Horton Hears a Who and, say, Looney Tunes.

Horton Hears a Who had a joke about Henry Kissinger. Hate to break it to you, but that's not particularly recent.

The Bus

My only qualm was the scene early on when Horton is in the river bathing. Everything was very cartoony but the water was very real looking. During the scenes where there was water and/or Horton was in the river, it suddenly looked like someone got some claymation wet. The water was too realistic for the scene, I thought.

No, I don't know how that could be fixed.

B.A.

The wife and I took our three-year-old daughter tonight. The theater was fairly crowded considering how long it has been out.

I thought it was mediocre. **1/2 out of five. It wasn't horrible by any means, but it is not worthy of a purchase. I almost fell asleep two or three times.

The Bus - the realistic water did seem out of place early on.

The animation was good.

The voice work was pretty good.

The movie was too long.