The Lorax
The story of the Lorax is by far Dr. Seuss' most political tale. In Thneed-ville, where everything is fake and people pay primes just to have fresh air, Ted decides to find a real tree to impress the lovely Audrey. Ted sneaks out of town into a field of stumps, once a great forest, where he finds the Once-ler. The Once-ler is explains how he created the town and destroyed all of the trees in the process of making and selling his thneeds. What exactly a thneed is, I do not know, for it seems to serve many purposes. All I know is that it is knit from the fibres of the trees.
The Lorax is the guardian of the forest, who tried very hard to prevent the Once-ler from damaging the environment. When the Once-ler had chopped down the last tree, the Lorax left and on a stone he put the word "unless", because unless someone cares, nothing will change. Ted eventually gets a seed from the Once-ler and is instructed to repopulate the forest. However, the most powerful business men, O'Hare (air salesman) doesn't want Ted to go out because he fears for his business. He knows that trees provide free oxygen and he doesn't like it. Thus he tries to stop Ted from leaving. In the end (spoiler) Ted is able to plant the tree and as the forest regrows, the Lorax returns to the Once-ler to thank him.
I was most surprised to find that the Lorax was only involved in the story through flashbacks. I had assumed from commercials that the Lorax was part of Ted's mission to find a real tree. Clearly, I was wrong.
This movie is very much an activist piece. It raises a lot of questions about capitalism and commercialism, and in a fantastical way it foreshadows and warns about the direction that our consumerist world is moving in. It also asks us to take action to prevent and repair the damage that we are doing to our own earth. Interestingly, such things are very characteristic of science fiction writing, but I would classify Dr. Seuss as a fantasy writer if I had to place him in an adult category (although I'm not sure that picture books are generally so easily or necessarily categorized).
The musical nature of this movie was expected after Horton Hears a Who, and it felt a little weird for the movie, but at the same time it worked.
It was cute, but I prefer Horton.
The Lorax is the guardian of the forest, who tried very hard to prevent the Once-ler from damaging the environment. When the Once-ler had chopped down the last tree, the Lorax left and on a stone he put the word "unless", because unless someone cares, nothing will change. Ted eventually gets a seed from the Once-ler and is instructed to repopulate the forest. However, the most powerful business men, O'Hare (air salesman) doesn't want Ted to go out because he fears for his business. He knows that trees provide free oxygen and he doesn't like it. Thus he tries to stop Ted from leaving. In the end (spoiler) Ted is able to plant the tree and as the forest regrows, the Lorax returns to the Once-ler to thank him.
I was most surprised to find that the Lorax was only involved in the story through flashbacks. I had assumed from commercials that the Lorax was part of Ted's mission to find a real tree. Clearly, I was wrong.
This movie is very much an activist piece. It raises a lot of questions about capitalism and commercialism, and in a fantastical way it foreshadows and warns about the direction that our consumerist world is moving in. It also asks us to take action to prevent and repair the damage that we are doing to our own earth. Interestingly, such things are very characteristic of science fiction writing, but I would classify Dr. Seuss as a fantasy writer if I had to place him in an adult category (although I'm not sure that picture books are generally so easily or necessarily categorized).
The musical nature of this movie was expected after Horton Hears a Who, and it felt a little weird for the movie, but at the same time it worked.
It was cute, but I prefer Horton.
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