The Lorax: "A Tree Falls The Way it Leans. Be Careful Which Way You Lean"

Director: Chris Renaud
               Kyle Balda
Writer:    Ken Daurio
               Cinco Paul
               Dr. Seuss 
Starring: Danny DeVito
               Zac Efron
               Ed Helms
               Taylor Swift
               Betty White
               Rob Riggle
               Jenny Slate
               Stephen Tobolowsky
Rating:    ****

Release Date: 27/07/2012     

This is the fourth big screen outing for one of Dr. Seuss' famous creations, and after the success of 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' and 'Horton Hears A Who' (let's just ignore The Cat In The Hat ever happened shall we...), The Lorax looks like it is set to follow in its popular predecessors footsteps. The big screen adaption of The Lorax is a charming and surprisingly meaningful tale that is basically an environmental warning for the world. Thanks to the brilliant story telling which is provided by Seuss' original, we are blessed with a smashing kids movie that doesn't mind sending a message about the care of the planet. It provides an informative and valuable lesson for moviegoers of all ages, without becoming preachy or too heavy. 

As well as having a message to send, this feature length caper is full of warmth, and is a wonderful, wise and hilarious family movie that is fantastic fun for everyone. Move over Grinch and Horton, there's a new guy in town. Now it is already doing pretty well in America, thanks to the lack of competition out at the moment, an I'm sure it will do just as fantastically over here. The Lorax is filled with exquisite CGI animation and 3D imagery, which is all thanks to director Chris Renaud, who gave Universal one of its few major animation hits with last years Despicable Me; and it looks like he has done it again by creating a happy, colourful world destroyed by greed and carelessness. 

So the main plot of the film follows a young boy called Ted (Efron) who, of course, has fallen head over heels for his neighbour Audrey (Swift) and sets off on a quest, he escapes the imposing walls of Thneedville to find her the mythical Truffula Tree, the only one left of its kind. (#Trivia), Ted and Audrey are actually named after Dr. Seuss and his Wife Audrey, that is all...  After setting of on his adventure, he soon ends up at the scary, prison-like home of the Onceler (Helms) who tells Ted a tale of pure greed and his part in it. 

This land once homed the wonder of nature, with plants growing and animals frolicking and everything looking beautiful. However once the Onceler moved onto the land, he soon wiped out the gorgeous rainbow-coloured plants, trees and flowers of the whole valley. His damaging actions soon caught the attention of the legendary Lorax (DeVito) but no matter how hard he pleaded, he could not stop the Onceler from committing his horrid actions. Years later and armed with this information and the Lorax itself, Ted is determined to bring back the gorgeous Truffula Valley to its former glory in a heated battle with current villain Aloysius O'Hare (Riggle), the town's number one polluter who pushes bottles of "fresh air" for his own personal gain - money.

The film is jam packed with things for grown-ups and kids to enjoy: it's a sweet nostalgic trip for the older generation (and fans of the original book) and is sugar-coated just enough for the children to love it. The voice cast delivers the lines pitch-perfect precision, especially the voices provided by Helms, DeVito and of course the wise old Granny voiced with gusto by the absolutely fabulous Betty White. Of course, it already has its critics, with many people disliking it because of it's message, but to those people I say, Jog On. It is a colourful, exciting and thoroughly enjoyable film, that is filled with brilliant songs, fantastic characters and that Dr. Seuss charm we all know and love. It is a film I will happily watch with my nieces (and occasionally alone) over and over again, in years to come.

The Lorax - Trailer