The Lorax (2012)

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Directors:

Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda

Writers:

Ken Daurio (screenplay), Cinco Paul (screenplay),

Stars:

Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danny DeVito	...	The Lorax (voice)
Ed Helms	...	The Once-ler (voice)
Zac Efron	...	Ted (voice)
Taylor Swift	...	Audrey (voice)
Betty White	...	Grammy Norma (voice)
Rob Riggle	...	Mr. O'Hare (voice)
Jenny Slate	...	Ted's Mom (voice)
Nasim Pedrad	...	Once-ler's Mom (voice)
Joel Swetow	...	1st Marketing Guy (voice)
Michael Beattie	...	2nd Marketing Guy (voice)
Dave B. Mitchell	...	1st Commercial Guy (voice)
Dempsey Pappion	...	2nd Commercial Guy (voice)
Elmarie Wendel	...	Aunt Grizelda (voice)
Danny Cooksey	...	Brett / Chet (voice)
Stephen Tobolowsky	...	Uncle Ubb (voice)

Storyline

In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O'Hare, has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business.

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Plot Keywords:

tree | walled city | environmental | money falling through the air | mother son relationship | 

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Taglines:

From the creators of Despicable Me.

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$70,217,070 (USA) (2 March 2012)

Gross:

$213,949,505 (USA) (20 July 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first film to feature Universal's 100th Anniversary logo.

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Goofs

When Ted visits the Once-ler for the second time and dives to the ground to avoid being launched by the sledgehammer as happened the first time, he stands up and his goggles are around his neck but hanging behind him. The scene then switches to the Once-ler and then back to Ted, and his goggles are still around his neck but now hanging in front of him.

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Quotes

Once-ler: It's a girl, isn't it?
Ted: What? No!
Once-ler: Really. Because when a guy does something stupid once, well, that's because he's guy. But he does the same stupid thing twice, that's usually to impress some girl.

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Connections

Referenced in Despicable Me (2010)

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Soundtracks

"This Is the Place (Tricky Version)"
Written by John Powell and Cinco Paul
Performed by Ed Helms

User Reviews

Devito Can't Save This One

For a children's film to work, it usually has to cater to both the children and the adult that brings the children to the film. Movies such as Shrek and Wall-E have perfected the tightrope dance that this requires. The Lorax throws that idea right out the window—and suffers considerably in the process. Instead of finding a way to please both audiences within a single storyline, the creators of The Lorax created two parallel stories—one for the adults; another for the children.

The children's storyline is very much like the Three Stooges. With the wildlife and terrain that Dr. Seuss provided, the slapstick is obviously enjoyable to the children. But it just keeps going. The same slapstick antics are used time and time again. The lack of creativity is a stain on the honor of Dr. Seuss. With everything that he poured into this world, it shouldn't be too difficult to pour some extra effort into the movie. Right?

The adult side of the film is worse. Although the "save the planet" storyline is interesting at first, it quickly loses its appeal. By the time the movie is concluding, you will feel like the creators are slapping you. If I wanted to be preached to about how I was destroying the planet, I would tune into Infowars. In the meantime, the storyline progresses haphazardly. The end is absolutely absurd. I found myself hoping for a quick end. On the plus side, my wish was granted.

There are a few plus sides to the movie. Danny Devito does a good job in his role of the Lorax. Why Taylor Swift was picked, however, is beyond me. Even her voice shows how lacking her acting ability is. The one part of the movie that still has me confused is the singing. The Lorax starts off with a song. I thought I simply hadn't realized it was a musical. But then there's no more singing…until halfway through. This movie can't decide if it should be a musical or just a movie. I must say that the songs are catchy. On the other hand, the song about greed will terrify children.

The Lorax is not a children's film worth seeing. If you want to see a great children's film with subtle political undertones, watch Wall-E. That movie does everything that The Lorax fails at. 2012 has been an awful year for children's films. Journey 2 was even worse than The Lorax. I hope this trend changes soon. Luckily, there is still ten months left in the year to remedy that problem.

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