RECOMMENDED
Dr. Seuss’ 1954 allegory still delights as a primer on relativism, solidarity and xenophobia. Today’s counterparts to the Cold War and Red Scare are apt targets for the late Theodor Seuss Geisel. The kindly elephant Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”) hears a tiny voice coming from a tiny speck and wonders if someone lives there. Indeed, the fine folks of Who-ville do dwell therein. Critters think Horton’s a kook since they hear nothing and fear his auditory hallucinations will undermine the status quo. Likewise, the mayor of Who-ville (voiced by Steve Carell from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) risks impeachment by an equally skeptical citizenry. Thumping “For the Children!”, a fear-mongering, mob-inciting kangaroo (voiced by Carol Burnett)—who’s “home-pouching” her offspring—denounces Horton and dispatches a Russian-accented vulture to annihilate the wee Whos. The day is saved when Who-ville pulls a Pete Seeger, and hoots a unity chorus of “We Are Here,” with a boost from a Symphoniphone. Open-minded do-gooders are redeemed. Directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, and writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, add a handful of needless quips for grown-ups going to this G-rated CGI feature. Comic bits hooked to the voice of Henry Kissinger (he left the White House in 1977), the best line of 1979’s “Apocalypse Now” and the 1988 campaign slogan of Bush’s father seem more likely to tickle grandparents than parents of the kids. This timeless satire of micro- and macro-cosmic myopia and chauvinism updates Voltaire’s 1752 interplanetary fantasy “Micromegas.” With the voices of Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, Amy Poehler, Seth Rogen and Charles Osgood as the rhyming narrator. 86m. (Bill Stamets)
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