AMC and Universal have released a video featuring the characters from the upcoming Lorax film.
If you missed it previously, the full trailer for the film, which is sure to delight all audiences, Seuss fans and otherwise, is here:
The Lorax is the story of a man called the Once-ler, who we see in flashback as a great entrepreneur. He discovers that Thneeds – “which everyone needs” – can be made from the tops of the trees in this strange land. The Lorax – who speaks for the trees tries to convince him that cutting down trees for thneeds is a bad idea, but he doesn’t listen. Most of the book is the conversation between the two about the industry.
The Thneed business destroys the forest, and in the present, there are no trees anywhere. The story ends on a slightly positive note when we see that there is one seed remaining in his possession. Of course, the story is a strong allegory for the nature conservation, and anti-big industry movements which were getting into full swing in the early seventies.
From the trailer, it looks like the story of the Once-ler is kept intact, but the story of the boy, to whom the Once-ler tells his tale, has been greatly expanded to include a romance and a few actions sequences.
The style, both visual and humor seem very reminiscent of How to Train your Dragon, which is one of the best CGI adventure comedies ever – not that that’s a huge pool. The story looks clever and the characters interesting.
The cast is also well chosen, placing Danny DeVito in the spotlight as The Lorax and supporting him with Taylor Swift, Betty White, Zac Effron, and Ed Helms.
Classic Doctor Seuss adaptations like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who have been popular films for many years, but more recent adaptations have not been entirely successful, and the new Grinch and Horton certainly have not supplanted their predecessors in the public’s eyes.
This new adaptation, however, looks like it has all the necessary ingredients to become a popular well-watched film if not an instant classic. The Lorax is slated to hit theaters on March 2, 2012.
