The Lorax film adaptation

The Common Room Other Animation
#65

I feel like I’m full of unpopular opinions for this film, ahaha. :laughing:

First of all, I had never read the book (still haven’t, le gasp) prior to seeing this movie and only knew about the basic plot from outside sources. So I really didn’t know much about the original book and the storyline, so personally I can’t make any judgment calls on what they may have added or taken away from the book. But when I saw the previews for this movie, I really wasn’t all that impressed. It looked like your typical film aimed at children, complete with dumb humor and slap jokes. (Which it did have, unfortunately.)

I went to see it the other day with a friend of mine who is majoring in animation at Full Sail University at the moment, and she loved this movie. I have to say I was actually very impressed with it myself, and it was and wasn’t what I expected it to be. For one thing, I didn’t expect it to be a musical-style film. I’m probably gonna get a bit of flack for this, but I feel like this was one aspect of the movie that I truly loved. We really don’t see a lot of “musical” films anymore, so for me personally, it was super refreshing and worked nicely with the flow of the film. Not to mention, I loved the songs, too!! Super, super catchy.

The characters were pretty predictable as far as personalities and arcs go, leaving you feel a bit unfulfilled with them when you leave the theater. They’re pretty much laid out in full when you first meet them, and there’s not much character development through the film (well, maybe with the exception of the Once-ler). That’s one of the things I wasn’t too keen on.

The other thing (and yeah I’ll probably get called out on this too) was definitely the “preachiness” of the movie. The second the Lorax walks out and says “I’m the Lorax, and I speak for the trees”, you know where the entire movie is going. The sequence near the middle of the movie showing the Once-ler’s business growing and the forest being destroyed, and the pollution that occurred as a result was really off-putting for me, personally. (The song was pretty great though, not gonna lie. Ahaha.) Not all big businesses or corporations are bad, and I ~love~ how the media is really pushing big business as the enemy these days. Yes, there are corporations that mistreat their power and whatnot, but for the most part, businesses got big because they did well and became successful, which is nothing to be ashamed of, nor should it be discouraged! Not to get too political here, but to see that being displayed as a major plot point was kind of iffy to me. Take it or leave it, that’s just how I felt.

And maybe I’m just really sick of the super heavy emphasis of the “go green” message being shot at us from all different directions, I don’t know. But other than that, I found this film to be extremely enjoyable and I really did like it. I don’t think it’s as good of a film as Horton Hears a Who is, but I still think it was executed well, not to mention it’s a visually beautiful film. The film designers really do a good job at getting the characters to look like they’ve come right out of the books and I feel they definitely do visual justice to Dr. Seuss’ style.

Overall, great film, definitely go see it at some point! Even if you don’t feel like paying full theater price to see it, get it or rent it when it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray. :slight_smile:

little chef

#66

^Interesting review. I agree, I was glad to see a musical. I actually have the songs all on my iPod! It was really great music, and it was the best part of the film.

I didn’t mind the humor. It was cheesy sometimes, I will be the first to admit that! But I don’t recall any fart jokes or other gross humor. So the movie got major points for that, because I find a lot of animated movies have too much of that these days.

I see what you mean about the Big Business message. That was an important element of the original book, it wasn’t just added on due to politics recently, it was part of the story 40 years ago. That’s what the original book was all about. Dr. Suess loved putting double meanings in his books, and the book focuses solely on the Lorax representing reason and evironmentalism while The Once-ler was a personification (if I can use that word, we don’t know if he is even a person in the book) of Industry and Businessmen. The movie kept true to the book in that sense, but for more poltical savvy viewers you can also pick up Liberal/Conservative references that were expanded in the movie. (Listen to The Once-ler’s “How Bad can I be?” song)

So going to the movie I was expecting a lot of pro-environment messages. And personally, I didn’t mind because I am a liberal. So I could relate for I didn’t find it obnoxiously done at all, but that’s just me.

I think one reason I liked the movie so much was that I had SUCH low expectations for it. I didn’t even really want to see it. So I was caught off guard by the colorful animation, great music, and good voice acting. If I had high expectations for the movie, I would of felt a different way leaving the theatre, but I was pleasently suprised.

Again, not the greatest animated movie, by far. But overall, enjoyable, with a good message.

Oh, and I forgot. I adored The Once-ler. And the main reason is probably because he is voiced by Ed Helms. Helms is one of my favorite actors, his work in the Hangover, Daily Show, And The Office are great. So I am glad he got to sing so many songs, he has a great voice. He’s also a bluegrass singer too!

#67

I’m pretty sure we’re seeing The Lorax.

#68

I probably won’t hit up the cinema until Brave comes out.

#69

Like eje said, this is what the book’s all about! I haven’t seen the film yet but I’ve read reviews about the film’s message actually not being strong enough, so it’s funny that you say this. Now I want to see the movie so I can contribute to this discussion better. :slight_smile:

Personally, I think bringing politics into environmental issues shouldn’t always be necessary. It’s everyone’s problem! All over the world! No one should act like pollution or cutting down trees in horrifically large numbers (or causing massive oil spills and long-lasting radioactive exposure, etc.) is something that shouldn’t be a concern or shouldn’t be shown to children because they’re easily influenced or whatever. When I hear news anchors complaining that movies with messages like The Lorax are too liberal and that we’re brainwashing our kids, I get disappointed and frustrated. So what, should we tell kids that corporations that are irresponsible are perfectly fine and should be left alone? That’s not brainwashing, either? Again, I don’t think treating the environment irresponsibly should be a political issue and should be solved by all parties whenever possible. And I don’t know if the movie was trying to suggest that all corporations are bad, which it possibly did, because obviously a corporation was responsible for creating and distributing the film, and multiple other corporations have been using the film for produce tie-ins. I don’t know, I just refuse to think that there isn’t a significant issue presented in the original book (not sure about the film) that is worth appreciating and listening to. I mean, the whole corporation-destroying-environment situation isn’t even a myth, either, so I don’t really care if it’s a popular theme for films or other media as long as the issue at hand is still relevant.

There’s a lot of exploitation that comes with running a large, successful corporation. Not always, but a lot of the time. I also don’t really care for the extreme hierarchy of corporations that encourages greed over using a more equal distribution of profits to possibly avoid exploitative practices (I don’t care if anyone labels me as communist for saying this, because I don’t support that anyway!). It’s one thing when a person at the head of a corporation started it from the very beginning and/or is simply a visionary genius… but in a lot of cases I don’t even see what’s so special about the people making zillions of money! 8D

#70

What you said makes me very sad. Because it reminds me that the treatment of the environment is one reason Dr. Suess wrote The Lorax 40 plus years ago. And while there have been improvements, the state of the environment is still a huge and relevent problem. I wish it wasn’t, but then again we live in a world where there are people who still think there is no Global Warning. We have a long way to go still!

People have been doing that lately, I’ve noticed. Paticularly Fox news. If there is anything presenting a new idea or something contrary to their beliefs, it’s automatically labeled as Brainwashing. Remember All-American Muslim? The Muppets? Now The Lorax.

As I said before, I’m sad to know that it is still relevent. I think a lot of people are upset about the anti corporation message. I mean, the Occupy was a huge deal a few months ago, and this movie comes out around the same time. Of course, it’s a coincidence, they happened around the same time. But it is still making a lot of people upset about as you mentioned before, brainwashing. And as I said before, it was part of the book 40 years ago anyway. But yeah, it is defintely anti-business in a lot of parts. For goodness sakes, the movie had not one, but two economy building businessmen villains!

The Once-ler finds it special.

#71

I might see it when it comes to DVD. The animation looks very colorful and the acting looks decent. It feels odd that Zac Efron voices a 12 year old.

#72

Yeah, that was really weird. And random, I haven’t heard from Zafron in a while. I don’t know why it would of been so hard to get an actual kid to voice him. They just perfer to use people with name recognition. Which is why Taylor Swift is probably involved in this, I bet there’s tons of people who saw the movie just because she’s in it.

I shouldn’t talk, because as I mentioned before, what sealed the deal for me to see this was that Ed Helms was starring as The Once-ler. I’ve always thought he’d be great in an animated musical, since his characters all sing. Sometimes at vending machines:

youtube.com/watch?v=ImjiDFC-MwQ

<3

#73

It annoys me when they get adults to voice kid and teen characters. You can sort of get away with it with teenagers, like with Sarah Vowell in The Incredibles or Jay Baruchel in HTTYD, but with kids it’s just unrealistic. I haven’t seen the film-it’s not out until July here-but watching the trailers with Zafron voicing a little kid is irritating and off-putting beyond belief.

#74

Hahaha, Zafron! That’s the best celebrity nickname ever. 8D

I think I might see this movie in theaters next week or so, especially if I can get tickets for $5 or so. I was listening to clips from the soundtrack on Amazon and most sound pretty cute and fun.

Also, a note: my last post was only partially directed at little chef, but the most was just a general response to what others have said. :slight_smile:

#75

For those who have seen it, how was the environmental message?

#76

Haha, it’s from A Very Potter Musical. Dumbledore has a poster of Zac Efron in his office, and everyone calls Efron Zafron. :laughing:

Oh yesh, I love budget price movies! And it is a good soundtrack. I’ve been rocking out to it the past week. And rocking out to Flight of the Conchords and Eddie Cantor. That’s how I roll.

#77

Gonna go see this today. Hope I enjoy it :smiley: !

#78

Make sure to tell us what you think!!

#79

I enjoyed it quite a bit!

As expected, it can be a little tedious with the environmental message. Not really anything new presented in that aspect, more or less just ‘nature is good’ and there is certainly a tinge of irony there, but oh well. 8D The animation, design scheme and color palette is stunningly beautiful, and very true to Dr Seuss’s artistic style. The songs were nice too. I think for an assortment of reasons I wouldn’t want to see it again for a long time but I liked it, and was pleasantly surprised by it several times. I give it a 7.5/10.

#80

Which irony are you talking about?

I know of one irony. Stephen Colbert pointed out one big one on his TV show. First he said he hated the book because of his dislike for the ‘little orange treehugger’, and then praised The Once-ler for being a ‘Thneed-related job creator’. But he said he loves the movie, because it has product tie ins, and “the more tie ins, the better the movie.” He then showed a commercial of the Lorax selling SUVs.

"Yes, the Lorax is selling Mazda CX5 Crossover SUVs. It’s not a polluting vehical, it’s a hybrid. In that it uses a combination of Gas. and Oline.

He then made this Suessian ryme for the Movie’s producers:

This cash-tacula sell out is not quote enough
I’m demanding more branding of Loraxian stuff!
With what you can buy boy, the sky is the limit!
A fillet o fish meal, with real Hummingfish in it!

Filmakers, get cracking!
The market is lacking
A slendiforous Lorax themed drill made for fracking!

Or the fine certain something that all people need
indeed you’ll succeed if you sold us a Thneed!
they’re easy to make, if you only take
all the Truffula Tufts off the trees by the lake
They’re comfy and thick as the thick ironies
Loraxian and Suess selling big SUVS.

If you’re interested in the whole thing, here’s the link. It’s quite funny
colbertnation.com/the-colber … the-lorax-

#81

Haha! Oh, I want to see that clip now. I recall seeing The Lorax in some car commercial, but I didn’t realize it was for a regular gas-consuming SUV! Geez, was that really a good idea? :unamused:

#82

I heard somewhere that they had adults voice the kids because they thought that the kid’s voices would change durring recording. Just thought i’d clarify. :slight_smile:

#83

Yes, I remember hearing about young male actors in particular going through puberty during the voiceovers for animated films, like Flounder in TLM. A 12-year-old boy would be a pretty hard character to cast, and I’ll honestly say that the combination of the look of the character in The Lorax and Efron’s voice make him look a LOT older, at least 15 or 16.

#84

Totally see it, I put the link to that clip in my post. It was hilarious.

There are examples of that happening. But in this movie’s case, I doubt it’d be a problem

  1. Despite what the trailers show, Ted was not a huuuuge character who carried the bulk of the film. Honestly, how long would it take to do his lines? Not long enough for his voice to completely change

  2. His character is pretty young, probably of the age right before those changes take place.