Horton Hears a Who

Whereas 1966’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a model of pacing and narrative economy in adapting a piece of children’s literature, Horton Hears a Who is a slightly bloated affair. Too many songs slow things down, and perhaps there just wasn’t enough story here to justify a full twenty-five minute special. Still, it’s Chuck Jones adapting Dr. Seuss and that by definition already has quite a bit going for it.

Mainly the sweetness and gentleness of Horton is quite pleasing as a hero. He’s a kind soul, trying to do what’s right while the entire jungle gossips and ostracizes him. Hans Conried goes uncommonly gentle in giving him life. Conried was typically called upon to give blustery life to over-the-top villains, like the melodramatic Captain Hook or the Mathemagician. Jones also indulges in his cutesy tendencies here, giving Horton large, soft eyes complete with long eyelashes and a rounded body held atop wonky knees.

And the pleasing angularity of several of the characters and backgrounds works well to contrast against Horton’s curvature. Jane Kangaroo, the primary antagonist, is particularly smart as a character design. Haughty, imperious and borderline fascist in her beliefs, Jane leers at Horton’s “odd” behavior, turning the entire jungle against him. June Foray finds a cinched, tough vocal cadence; rounded tones and clipped phrases abound, to give Jane a preening, queenly villainy.

It’s bright and colorful, and perhaps if you’re young enough the heavy messaging will be easily forgiven, but Horton’s lack of subtlety with its imparting is exhausting. Once the narrative starts rolling it never ceases to remind of us of its moral, rolling out “a person is a person, no matter how small” every few minutes.

By design there must be a happy ending, but the about-face of the jungle denizens in Horton is quite shocking. They go from planning to boil the flower, caging Horton, and threatening him to softening, marveling at how Horton was right all along, and then parading off into the sunset. The tonal whiplash is astounding and nowhere near as earned as the Grinch’s, who had an entire act based around his redemption and not mere seconds.

Horton Hears a Who is still far better than many of the live action atrocities and CGI animations that take Dr. Seuss’ work as a springboard for post-modern deconstruction. This one is the obvious weaker piece between the two Jones made, and probably would have been better served as an animated short. I can’t say it’s bad, because it’s not, but it is frustratingly sloppy.