Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

Expectations:
While I didn't think that the trailer for The Lorax was particularly funny, I usually enjoy a good animated film, as long as it has some depth to it; and nobody does depth like Dr. Seuss. Plus, it made $70 million in its first weekend, so I figured it had to be pretty good. To be honest, I don't remember reading the Lorax as a child, so I was a bit confused when I saw the preview. I didn't know that there was a Dr. Seuss book that I was not familiar with. Because of my lack of familiarity, I really didn't have a clue what to expect story-wise as I went to the theater. It really made the story more interesting, since I didn't know what to expect. But did it make it interesting enough???...

Plot:
I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the story. Certainly Dr. Seuss has some of the deepest lines of all time, but his books are short and can be diluted if stretched out over too long of a movie. While there were a few moments that I felt were boring, overall The Lorax had a nice balance of story-telling, comedy, and lesson-teaching. The story was great because the bazillions of little kids in the theater were very much so focused on the film. The comedy was good because the bazillions of kids laughed a lot, and I also laughed a lot. The lesson-teaching was good because we are dealing with Dr. Seuss, who gives Jesus' parables a run for their money. Because I haven't read the book, I don't know how much they were poking at the environmental aspects of the story, but, if you are one of those environmentalist freaks, this is the movie for you (and your children).

Best Scene: Any scene with the randomly quacking duck

Characters:
As I have said before, this category is tough to talk about when you are dealing with animation. I did find it odd that the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito) was the title character. He was far from the biggest scene-stealer. That title would go to either the Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms) or Ted (voiced by Zac Efron). The Lorax was important in the lesson-teaching but not so much in the comedy or the story-telling. At times, I felt like there was too much going on character-wise, in particular with the two "bad guys." It was tough to figure out who to hate the most between the Once-ler and Mr. O'Hare (voiced by Rob Riggle), but we eventually figure it out.

Best Character: The randomly quacking duck!

Worst Character: I believe I have to go with Mr. O'Hare for the worst character. Usually, I don't mind bad guys, but he just got on my nerves. And he was funny looking.

Conclusion:
I really liked The Lorax, and I really liked that the kids liked it. One little girl even clapped and screamed, "Yay!", as the credits began to role. The lesson was fantastic, and we need more people to challenge our kids to do something great with their lives. I suggest The Lorax for absolutely anybody of any age. It deserves to make $70 million dollars in one weekend. Dr. Seuss told stories unlike anybody else, and I can't wait to share his work with my future children. And The Lorax will certainly be one that I include. But first, I need to read it! I give The Lorax 3.21 out of 5 stars and encourage you to add to its massive, money-making total...