Horton hears a Who
I recently watched ‘Horton hears a Who’, the new movie adapation of Dr. Seuss’ 1954 classic. The movie is delightful. Along with ‘Ratatouille’, this is one of the few animation movies I’ve seen recently, that focuses on the story and characters, without getting lost in fancy animation techniques.
(Pic courtesy www.smh.com.au)
It has a moral without being preachy, the characters seem so real, and the landscape looks amazing without seeming enchanted or fairy-tale-like. The dialogue is lovely too; it doesn’t rhyme all the way but retains the rhythmic quality of the book.
My only hitch - (without giving away too much of the plot), when the Mayor of Whoville has 98 daughters, why is he constantly wishing for the uninterested son to follow him as mayor ? Even if we accept that it is a role that passes from father to child, weren’t any of the 98 girls interested? I thought it sends across a poor message to kids, that it is boys who get to do all the important stuff; the father’s focus on the son was just that blatant. I can’t remember if this is the same as the book, which was after all, written in 1954…
I could even understand if the Mayor just had the one son and wanted him to do great things, but to have 98 other kids, and none of them even considered as worthy of ‘doing’ anything.
Hi- ur new home in the eworld noted.
need to see horton - may be they could havealtered the story and made the mayor a single kid person
u in chennai sometime?
Apu: Tks. Horton hears a who is worth a watch definitely. I was not sure whether that was the story in the book as well; I did think they could have adapted it to a modern situation, in case this was a 1954 tale where a boy could be expected to get precedence.
Hi Apu and lovely to have you back!
I was never a great fan of animated movies but animation has come such a long way that after Ratatouille, I do believe I am a convert. I look forward to watching “Horton Hears a Who” and I suspect the mayor’s ambition for his son had to do with the time period in which the book was written, although I was wondering if the story couldn’t have been tweaked a little to make it more modern and to give the daughters some prominence? I guess not if the film makers wanted to stay true to the story.
Again, lovely to have you back!
yaaay u r back! hanks for ltting m know
lotus, itchy - thanks! it feels so nice to hear your words.
reg the storyline, infact thats why i was hoping that some one who remembers the original can enlighten us. but yes, they could perhaps have made it more in line with today…
hi aparna,
nice to have u back.as for not recognizing any of the daughter’s worthy,i thought those days were history.i see that it is not so even now.lots to be done.we’ll try our best.
Congratulations on your new site! Looks neat! and you are back!
Cheers!
Padma, DV, thanks for dropping in!