The film releases March 2 to coincide with Dr. Seuss’s 108th birthday
Dr. Seuss was known for using made-up words and tongue-twisting rhymes to tell his stories, but he used those stories to teach some very real lessons.
The movie “The Lorax”, which is based on a popular Dr. Seuss book, releases in theaters tomorrow to coincide with Dr. Seuss’s 108th birthday.
The Lorax is another example of a big idea translated into lessons children can understand.
In The Lorax, Dr. Seuss wrote about a world in which an interloper called the Once-ler discovers a pristine land of Truffula trees. The Once-ler discovers he can use the tufts at the top of the trees to make a material called thneed, and begins to chop down all of the trees, resulting in a sparse, treeless world.
The film elaborates on the story. Taylor Swift is the voice of Audrey, a girl who desperately wants to have a real tree instead of the fake ones that line the streets of Thneedville. Zac Efron lends his voice to Ted, who has a crush on Audrey. Ted sets out to find a Truffula tree for Audrey in order to win her heart.
The environmental message in “The Lorax” thinly veiled. The people of Thneedville have to buy bottled air and most of the residents have no memory of real trees. Dr. Seuss stories often have some sort of political, environmental or social lesson at the roots, and this film is no exception.
The Lorax himself is a squat round creature covered with orange fur, a bushy yellow mustache and eyebrows to match. Danny DeVito is the voice of the Lorax, and the Lorax is the voice of the trees. He is determined to remind people why trees are so important.
Dr. Seuss had high standards for adaptations, so most of the film versions of his books were made after his death in 1991. “The Lorax” joins a long line of film adaptations such as “The Cat in the Hat” and “Horton Hears a Who”.
