After disasters like the live action adaptation of The Cat in the Hat, an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who! seems like anything but a safe bet.
But the right combination of imaginative computer animation and warm storytelling make the movie surprisingly satisfying.
For those readers who haven't picked up the works of the good Dr. Seuss since they graduated from sippy cups, a quick recap: Horton (Jim Carrey), an elephant in the jungle, hears a tiny voice on a small speck of dust, thanks to his big ears. On the dust is a tiny city filled with creatures called Whos, led by the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell).
No one believes Horton when he says there's a tiny city on the speck, and no one believes the Mayor when he says a giant elephant is carrying them around. A kangaroo (Carol Burnett) leads a kind of witch-hunt against Horton (for encouraging children to use their imaginations) as he races to place the dust in a safe place.
Adults can have fun analyzing the underlying social message of the movie. The original book was published in the era of McCarthyism, and the villains -- an overprotective mother kangaroo and the senior town council members of Whoville -- are great stand-ins for conservative authority.
For the kids, it's just an entertaining movie that happens to have a simple message of community and tolerance. As Horton's mantra goes: "A person's a person, no matter how small." The citizens of Whoville cooperate to save themselves by making enough noise to prove they are there, succeeding only through teamwork.
Compared to movies like Shrek, which can only coat their tales in hip cultural references and jokes kids couldn't possibly get, Horton's warm tone appeals to people of all ages.
Instead of compartmentalizing the film into dumbed-down kid's humor and cruder jokes for adults, why not have faith in both segments of the audience and just tell an all-around compelling story? Dr. Seuss' classic stays relevant without modernization.
It might sound like hyperbole to call Horton's tale "compelling," but the clear moral and likable characters give it a sense of purpose and resolution, just like in the best children's stories.
The movie is gorgeous, bouncing between colorful jungle and city settings, with plenty of interludes and creative visual tricks.
It's in the movie's most blatant attempts to cater to a modern audience in which Horton stumbles the most. When the Mayor uses the social networking site WhoSpace, it seems like an unnecessary wink to older kids (or perhaps to the Fox film's overlord and MySpace.com owner Rupert Murdoch.)
A fantasy sequence, in which Horton pictures himself as a brave fighter, adopts anime-style animation. However, the stereotypes -- including poorly dubbed dialogue and bad accents -- are, at worst, somewhat racist. At best, they're just not funny.
And the ending, unfortunately, leaves the picture on a sour note, with a cast sing-a-long to "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon for no apparent reason. This self-conscious pop culture joke, in a film that had been a throwback to more sincere children's movies, confuses the tone.
These missteps, however, are not the rule. Horton Hears a Who! is more in line with the family films of older generations than those of today. The concessions to modern tastes keep the film from being perfect, but it's still an unexpected and refreshing movie that is a lot nicer than whatever kids these days have on repeat in their DVD players. And adults won't be bored by it.
Grade: B+
