Dr. Seuss' The Lorax [DVD]

Description

An animated rendition of Dr. Seuss’s classic
book about the threat of industrialization to nature, The Lorax opens in
Thneedville–a town never depicted in the original book. Thneedville is an
artificial place, made primarily from plastic. It sports inflatable trees,
fast cars, and air quality so poor that the residents are forced to purchase
bottled fresh air. In another new twist to the story, 12-year-old Ted (Zac
Efron) discovers that his crush Audrey (Taylor Swift) wants nothing more than
to see a long-extinct Truffula Tree, so he sets out to impress her by finding
one. Since there are no real trees in Thneedville, Ted acts on the crazy
stories of his grandmother (Betty White), venturing beyond the city’s walls
into the desolate wasteland to locate a mysterious creature called the Once-
ler (Ed Helms). Here the story and animation begin to more closely follow the
book. Ted discovers the grumpy recluse, who reluctantly begins to tell him a
tale about a once-perfect landscape filled with beautiful Truffula Trees and
cute frolicking animals–a landscape now decimated by one greedy young man’s
insatiable appetite for profit. The beauty and wonder of the Truffula forest
and its creatures are right out of Dr. Seuss’s illustrations. While the forest
creatures may not be directly referred to as Brown Bar-ba-loots, Swomee-Swans,
and Humming-Fish, the cute little bears, funny-looking ducks, and especially
charming trio of singing fish are instantly recognizable. They serve, as they
do in Dr. Seuss’s book, to add just the right amount of humor and levity to
what would otherwise be a pretty heavy-handed message from the Lorax (Danny
DeVito) about environmental preservation. Ted’s hormonal instincts to impress
Audrey slowly begin to take a back seat to the plight of the lost trees and
animals, and the Once-ler’s assertion that “Unless someone like you cares a
whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better” rings true by the end of the
film. The abundance of original music is a nice and unexpected addition to the
story, though why neither Efron nor Swift actually gets to sing is perplexing.
(Ages 5 and older) Tami Horiuchi

Features:

Product Details:

• Genre: Kids & Family, Animation, Comedy
• Format: NTSC, Subtitled, Color, Multiple Formats, Animated, Dolby, Widescreen
• Contributor: Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Chris Renaud, Danny DeVito, Kyle Balda, Zac Efron, Betty White
• Initial release date: 2012-08-07
• Language: Spanish, English, French
• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.5 x 5.3 x 7.5 inches; 0.01 Ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 274280
• Director ‏ : ‎ Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Subtitled, Animated, Color, Dolby, Widescreen, NTSC
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 26 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ August 7, 2012
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White