Coming Soon – Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

At the far end of town
where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows…
is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.

12 years ago I got my favourite Dr. Seuss book for Christmas. It was December 2000, I was 18 and the book had been in print for 29 years… today The Lorax is still my fav book from the Seuss and will soon be in theatres as a feature length animated flick.

Part of me is very excited at the prospect of seeing this book come to life as it is… and part of me isn’t very excited at all.

The part that wants a ticket or maybe a sneak preview pass loves the fact that Zac Efron and Taylor Swift are involved in the movie as voices. I love both of them! Then you add in Rob Riggle, Ed Helms, Danny DeVito and even Betty White are voicing this movie. That’s a pretty good cast and it should make for an entertaining show.

I’m also excited because this is a very important story to me. It’s a book that can help teach children the importance of our environment and their responsibility. It has value far beyond that of a rhyming learner. And while I’m not trashing Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham (which have helped more children read than I can possibly guess or imagine) I do think the story of the Lorax is extremely important, especially in developed nations and especially in urban settings where interacting with nature isn’t a daily occurrence.

It’s also an amazingly whimsical story that includes Truffula Trees, Swomee-Swans, Brown Bar-ba-loots, Humming-Fish and the Thneed, that fine something that all people need!

On the other side of things is that 2nd point that I made in my excited stage. It is a very important story to me and I’m scared that making it into a 94 minute feature film will dilute the impact of the message. Zac Efron and Taylor Swift in an animated boy wants girl real bad story is going to capture the imaginations of a lot of children (and maybe me) and that’s okay… but what about the environment and the moral of the story.

I’m scared that it’s going to be washed away. I’m scared that the 3D effects are going to be flash and bang that aren’t needed.

However, I can’t stop the movie from hitting theatres on March 2, 2012 so I would like to see it and be able to form an opinion as to whether it was a good idea.

My countdown is on. Is yours?

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Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.