The Lorax (2012)

[Watashi]

ODEaSHgib0Y

I'm sorry Spinal.

[Mara]

That looks terrible.

Also, this trend has to STOP of casting animated children with voice actors that sound like grown men. It's DISTURBING. I'm looking at you, How to Train Your Dragon.

[elixir]

NO.

[Watashi]

The first half of the trailer, I was kinda digging it, then the Lorax showed up, and I was like...please kill me.

[Mara]

The first half of the trailer, I was kinda digging it, then the Lorax showed up, and I was like...please kill me.

The visuals actually look cool. It's the writing and casting that are killing it.

[NickGlass]

I saw this a few hours ago and instantly became too sad to post it.

It appears as if they've turned The Lorax into a wise-ass slapstick creature--and the main reason to save Truffula trees is for teenage romance? Mommy, hold me.

We don't get to see the Once-ler in this trailer, but I bet they make him into a cigar-chomping, baby-eating monster.

[Sycophant]

If they're going this direction, they oughtta green screen DeVito in as himself.

[Watashi]

I saw this a few hours ago and instantly became too sad to post it.

It appears as if they've turned The Lorax into a wise-ass slapstick creature--and the main reason to save Truffula trees is for teenage romance? Mommy, hold me.

We don't get to see the Once-ler in this trailer, but I bet they make him into a cigar-chomping, baby-eating monster.
The Once-ler is voiced by Ed Helms. They give him an entire backstory.

[Sycophant]

The Once-ler is voiced by Ed Helms. They give him an entire backstory.

Gross.

[number8]

Yeah, Once-ler is all over that trailer, though you wouldn't know it's him if no one told you.

[Dukefrukem]

bummer.

[Dead & Messed Up]

You know what'd be nice? If people stopped embellishing Seuss movies to feature length and instead produced them as television specials or as movie omnibuses. You could take three Seuss's and make a satire anthology. The Lorax, The Butter Battle Book, and The Sneetches.

[Mysterious Dude]

I bet they gave it a happy ending.

[Sycophant]

I'm not on my phone now, so I can say more.

Opening an adaptation of The Lorax in some kind of gorgeous suburban paradise seems a significant problem if the tone of the book is to be preserved. If memory serves, the book (and certainly the wonderful TV special) begins and ends in a near-apocalyptic wasteland. There's a bit of hope at the end, but it's hope in the face of real despair. That's the right framing for the story, I believe.

I think it's possible to adapt a Seuss story to feature length (I personally think anthology films would be a hard sell, but perhaps that's me buying into Hollywood's bullshit? I do think so, though.). I actually liked Horton Hears a Who quite a bit. The thing is, that the adaptation of the story needs to stay true to the story's spirit--not just with whimsical visuals, but in tone and (at least partially) structure.

The structure of The Lorax seems to have been hijacked to frame it in a contemporary tween/teen romance story, complete with artistic free spirit girl and horny but awkward and ineffectual boy. It smacks of over-relevance which I think has been plaguing kids' entertainment for the past decade or so. Most successful family films (including especially those by Disney) of years past were able to tell stories about adults without reframing it to be all about schoolyard worries. I wonder if children of today are really resistant to seeing stories about people who are older than them (or at least not immediately older, like these tweens) or if this is just somehow the shape the genre has taken.

More worrisome than Helms's backstoried Once-ler is the introduction of Rob Riggle's "new villain" O'Hare. Talk about muddling the message. My suspicious side suspects a new villain might have been introduced to keep parents from having their children exposed to stuff that seems to indict all corporations, and recast the place of the evil away from middle managers and other corporate employees that are most likely to be the fathers and mothers of the target audience here, leaving the real evil in an abstract place that will be non-confrontational and perhaps revealed to be defeatable only in the most fantastic of situations.

Okay, that last bit might be a bit of a rambly mess, but I have an actual paper to go write, so I'm going to stop pouring my writerly energies into this.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Looks like they're taking a giant shit on my favorite work by Dr. Seuss

Sad days indeed.

[Henry Gale]

But guys, it's also in IMAX TREE-D! If even the marketing's that clever, imagine the movie!

I'm with Wats though, I kind of enjoyed the first section of it. But after the rest happened and I learned that those characters were played by Taylor Swift and Zac Efron, I wasn't sure how much I stood by those initial feelings.

[[ETM]]

Opening an adaptation of The Lorax in some kind of gorgeous suburban paradise seems a significant problem if the tone of the book is to be preserved. If memory serves, the book (and certainly the wonderful TV special) begins and ends in a near-apocalyptic wasteland.

I was wondering about this - I don't know the story, but in the trailer, while they are talking about trees and how they're gone, there's a clear shot of a tree right in front of the house.

[Spinal]

I would rather sit through The Human Centipede than watch this.

[Spinal]

I would rather be a part of a human centipede than watch this.

[Winston*]

Looks good.

[Raiders]

;380821']I was wondering about this - I don't know the story, but in the trailer, while they are talking about trees and how they're gone, there's a clear shot of a tree right in front of the house.

All the plants/trees are fake. What's more interesting is they retained the Suess-tastic color and texture of the Truffula trees, but their fake ones are modeled on just regular ol' trees.

[Watashi]

I just have no idea why there needs to be a romance subplot in this. Was it just to get Taylor Swift's name on there?

[NickGlass]

I just have no idea why there needs to be a romance subplot in this. Was it just to get Taylor Swift's name on there?

And she's probably write a song for the film, and it will probably make me want to shove a pencil in my ear.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Don't do it. The world needs pencils.

[Spinal]

Taylor Swift is hardly the most disturbing element of this project.

[MadMan]

Two things:

First, I don't really remember the actual story-its been a while.

Second, if there were jokes in this trailer none of them were funny. Also while I don't have any problem with Efron, but Taylor Swift is awful and therefore that makes this easily a rental. Probably wasn't going to see it in theaters anyways, but she's awful despite being really hot, and yeah I agree that a song of hers will probably make it into the movie.

[Sycophant]

Has anyone seen Taylor Swift act? Is her speaking (or even singing) voice so unpleasant?

[Watashi]

I like Taylor Swift.

[Winston*]

What brings a man to hate a Taylor Swift? Her innocuous pop audibles like shrieks to his ears. Her pleasant appearance like wasps to his eyes. Her Lorax appearance like a pyre for his soul. He has no ears, no eyes, no self.There is only the burning fires of Swift.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I am intrigued by her strange eyes.

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/taylor-swift-acm-gi.jpg

Tell me more, strange eyes of Swift.

[romantisaurusrex]

I am intrigued by her strange eyes.

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/taylor-swift-acm-gi.jpg

Tell me more, strange eyes of Swift.

Not much to tell.

[MadMan]

She's hot, but she makes some of the worst pop country music ever. Her songs make my ears burn.

[Ezee E]

I've got nothing negative to say about her. She seems like a good, positive influence on her demographic, something that seems quite rare. Her music is catchy, even if it's not my type of thing, but I think she's got potential to become great.

[NickGlass]

I don't take fault in her personally (because I don't know enough--despite reading a very random 15-page New Yorker profile on her), but her involvement in this project troubles me, as do most of what I can glean from that trailer. Anyone as brutally literal-minded as Ms. Swift should not be close to this allegory. Why is it that very clever youth-oriented literature often lose any semblance of metaphor in translation?

[Raiders]

I don't take fault in her personally (because I don't know enough--despite reading a very random 15-page New Yorker profile on her), but her involvement in this project troubles me, as do most of what I can glean from that trailer. Anyone as brutally literal-minded as Ms. Swift should not be close to this allegory. Why is it that very clever youth-oriented literature often lose any semblance of metaphor in translation?

Taylor Swift didn't write, direct or produce this right? What makes her involvement particularly bad? Do you think she is necessarily more literal-minded than Eddie Albert or Bob Holt?

[NickGlass]

Taylor Swift didn't write, direct or produce this right? What makes her involvement particularly bad? Do you think she is necessarily more literal-minded than Eddie Albert or Bob Holt?

Well, her character doesn't exist in the book, and seems to serve the sole purpose of making the main character interested in trees for purely romantic reasons. Nonetheless, I know she's just the voice and wasn't the one who created the character.

I was just drawing a comparison between who she represents and how this film is being adapted. I was referring to the idea of this being packaged as a product for families, with Swift (and a song I'm guessing she'll write--or at least co-write--for the film) being a reason some will see this. And, drawing on her contribution to music, her songs have sweet melodies, but are simplistic and literal-minded--and that's what I fear the filmmakers will do with this material.

[NickGlass]

Also, a 24-year-old Zac Efron providing the (very much post-pubescent and deep) voice for a curious boy character more than half his age? It's weird.

[Spinal]

vrvg33vkdFI

:|

[Stay Puft]

For the last couple months or more, the "please turn off your phone" message that plays in front of movies at the AMC theatres here has been a glorified Lorax commercial similar to that (it's the Lorax sitting in a theatre and being annoyed by a woman talking on her phone and another woman munching food loudly, and then he starts screaming at everybody and tells the audience to be respectful, and then he tells everybody to go see him in his new movie on March 2nd).

It's been making my eyes roll harder than I ever thought possible.

[number8]

I think Dreamworks always does that. I've seen a Kung Fu Panda and Monsters vs Aliens versions too. I appreciated the Kung Fu Panda one because it was one of the first to tell you not to text because the light is annoying.

[number8]

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

vrvg33vkdFI

[Kurosawa Fan]

Uhhh... three posts up, buddy.

[number8]

I didn't believe it the first time.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I didn't believe it the first time.

I don't blame you. I didn't even watch it when Spinal posted it because I didn't want it to be real. I couldn't resist temptation the second time.

[NickGlass]

Dear powers that be,

All of this needs to go away, immediately. Thank you in advance.

Best,
Nick

[Raiders]

Well shit, I'm even more proud to drive a Mazda now.

[Ezee E]

What's so bad about it?

[NickGlass]

What's so bad about it?

To which are you referring to? I just knew I had to step away from everything involved in this remake once the trailer appeared to have, in the immortal words of Kim Novak, raped the source material.

Let's just say that, if the film is as the trailer makes it seem, I'm guessing the Once-ler should have a producing credit.

[Watashi]

The new trailer out there is even worse.

I dare not to link it.

[Spinal]

What's so bad about it?

If you've read The Lorax, then you should know why it is utterly appalling to suggest that he would endorse a motor vehicle. This is easily the most despicable Hollywood project in quite some time.

[Sven]

I'm the Lorax, I speak for the Japanese auto manufacturers.

[D_Davis]

You guys, since the Lorax originally appeared in his book, he's done a lot of growing up. He realized that he was far too idealistic and naive in his youth; a modern, thriving, successful economy and culture could not survive in his idealized Utopian fantasy world. He was tired of being a Hippie loser, bought some boots so as to pull himself up by the straps, and he got a real job making real money, thus becoming a contributing member of society.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The new trailer out there is even worse.

I dare not to link it.

The one with the Orwellian black-suited agents? I just watched it. I have no fucking idea what this movie is now.

Why don't they just make a Seuss omnibus? That way, they don't have to create larger stories that have none of the wit or whimsy of Seuss.

[MadMan]

So this is going to be just like The Grinch where the main message of the movie gets completely ignored/overlook because the studio wants to make money on not only the movie but also merchandise, too? Gotcha. I would have included this in my first post in this thread, but I'll admit I had this sad realization thanks to the commercial that was posted.

[Watashi]

Has Schager gone soft? (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-lorax/6077)

[Pop Trash]

Has Schager gone soft? (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/the-lorax/6077)

I thought that review was curious too. I noticed A.O. Scott (generally more forgiving than Schager) hated it.

[Watashi]

This made 70.7 million dollars this weekend. :sad:

[Henry Gale]

This made 70.7 million dollars this weekend. :sad:

Even more confounding, it's somehow the 6th biggest animated opening of all time.

But I guess it's not too surprising that it opened big considering the only major releases for kids so far this year have been 3D reissues of old movies. Otherwise, what was the last big budget family tentpole movie? Chipwrecked? Shudder. (EDIT: I guess Journey 2 counts, with its small week-to-week decline suggesting that parents have been taking their kids to it because there's nothing else.)

[MadMan]

This made 70.7 million dollars this weekend. :sad:Yey capitalism? :|