Horton Hears a Who! (1970)

Horton The Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbours who refuse to believe it exists.

Directors:

Chuck Jones, Ben Washam (co-director)

Writer:

Dr. Seuss (teleplay)

Stars:

Hans Conried, June Foray, Chuck Jones

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Hans Conried	...	Narrator / Horton / Dr. H. Hoovey (voice)
June Foray	...	Jane Kangaroo / Mother Who / Baby Who / Cindy Lou Who (voice)
Chuck Jones	...	Junior Kangaroo / Various Whos / Quizmo McKwoff / JoJo (voice)

Storyline

In this story, Horton discovers there is a microscopic community of intelligent beings called the Who's living on a plant that only he can hear. Recognising the dangers they face, he resolves to keep them safe. However, the other animals around him think Horton has gone crazy thinking that there are such beings. They resolve to take action for his own good and Horton and The Who must struggle against these impossible odds to prevent a tragedy.

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Plot Keywords:

elephant | miniature person | based on children's book | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

In addition to being director/animator, Chuck Jones was also at the microphone supplying the voices of various characters.

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Quotes

Mother Who: Is Horton an elephant?
Baby Who: No, ma'am, Horton's a pickle.
Other Baby Who: What's a Horton?

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Connections

Featured in The Nostalgia Chick: The Lorax (2012)

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Soundtracks

Be Kind to Your Small Person Friends
(uncredited) (1970)
Music by Eugene Poddany and John Philip Sousa
Lyrics by Dr. Seuss
Performed by the MGM Chorus

User Reviews

Another Dr Seuss treasure

Dr Seuss was one of my childhood favourites and I still have a big soft spot for him now. Of the animated adaptations of his work, almost all are absolute gems and show an utmost respect for it. And Horton Hears a Who is no exception. The animation is bright and colourful with beautifully rendered character designs(they are also true to the illustrations in the book), and the songs deliciously catchy. The writing and rhymes are relatively simple(in a good way) as well as witty and very easy to get in your head. The story is zippily paced, upbeat and charming with a nice message, which is exactly what Dr Seuss should be like, and it doesn't suffer from too much padding or useless scenes. The ending is also very heartfelt. The characters are timeless and always engage you, and the voice acting especially from Hans Conreid is terrific. Overall, a treasure, every bit as good as the book and deserves its place among the other animated Dr Seuss adaptation classics. The Jim Carrey animated film I also found entertaining and easily the best of the feature length adaptations, but I'll always prefer this. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horton Hears a Who!

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Cat in the Hat Productions, MGM Television, Dr. Seuss Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

26 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1