Horton Hears a Who! (also known as Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!)is a 2008 CGI animated film, based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name and the fourth feature film from Blue Sky Studios. It was the first Dr. Seuss adaptation fully animated using CGI technology.

The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, based on a screenplay written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. The film was produced by Bob Gordon, Audrey Geisel, Christopher Meledandri and Chris Wedge. Christian Kaplan was the casting director and music was provided by John Powell. This is the second film to feature both Jim Carrey, as the voice of Horton the elephant, and Steve Carell, who provides the voice of the Mayor of Whoville. This also marks the second Dr. Seuss adaptation to feature Jim Carrey, the first being The Grinch.

Plot

In the Jungle of Nool, a caring, imaginative elephant named Horton (Jim Carrey) takes a dip in the pool. A dust speck floats past him in the air, and he hears a tiny yelp coming from it. Believing that an entire family of microscopic creatures are living on that speck, he places it on top of a clover that he holds in his trunk.

Horton and the Mayor both agree that Whoville needs a more permanent, stable environment, and Horton resolves to place the speck atop Mt. Nool, the safest place in the jungle. This outlook earns Horton nothing but ridicule from the inhabitants of Nool, especially from the strict Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), who tries to get Horton to give up the speck, so as not to put ridiculous ideas into the fragile heads of children. Ever faithful to his motto, "A person's a person, no matter how small," Horton refuses.

All the small incidents that Horton experiences on his trek across the jungle have a catastrophic effect on Whoville (as an example, leaving the speck outside overnight will cause it to frost, thereby, making it snow in Whoville, during the summer). Ned has a rough time warning the city council of the unusual occurances caused by the speck being carried everywhere, as nothing in Whoville has ever gone wrong since it was founded. As the other Whos become suspicious, the Mayor finally reveals his outlandish prophecy to them, but the Whos don't believe him any more than the animals believe Horton.

Sour Kangaroo enlists a nefarious eagle named Vlad Vladikoff (Will Arnett) to get rid of the speck by force. Vlad manages to steal the speck and drop it from hundreds of feet into a valley full of identical clovers. The impact demolishes Whoville like an earthquake, yet Horton finds the right clover, after painstakingly picking 2,999,999 clovers through the field. The earthquake is enough to convince the rest of the Whos that the Mayor is not crazy, and they all tell Horton they believe in him.

Sour Kangaroo finds out that Horton still has the speck, and, her composure completely run out, forms a mob to get rid of the speck once and for all. They plan to rope and cage Horton, and drop the speck into a pot of boiling beezlenut oil. The Mayor enlists all of his people to make noise, so the animals can hear them. At the last second, Jojo, revealing that he really wants to be a musician, contributes the last "YOPP!" that breaks a hole in the atmosphere. Hearing their cries, the animals finally realize the atrocity they almost committed. Sour Kangaroo is shocked and ashamed, but she still makes up with Horton, and at the end of the film, everyone helps Horton carry the speck up to the top of Mt. Nool.

(From wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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Characters

    * Ned McDodd, The Mayor of Who-ville, voiced by Steve Carell. Ned McDodd is the mayor of a microscopic world, and father of 96 daughters and a son named JoJo. He is very proud and formal and cares very much for his city and its people, but when he starts hearing the voice of Horton, whom he cannot see, things begin to unravel for the Mayor. It is noted that the name of the character wasn't revealed until the theatrical release.

    * Kangaroo, voiced by Carol Burnett. Kangaroo is a busybody who is skeptical about the existence of the Whos and Whoville on a dust speck. Sour Kangaroo is the main antagonist(but not villain) of the film, and she finally believed that Whos exist on the speck of dust at the end of the film.However, as Horton's claims begin to drive her towards darkness, she believes that once other people start listening to Horton, they'll start to come to her for questions she won't be able to answer. In order to be rid of it she begins making deals with evil monkeys and the eagle hitman Vlad Vladikoff. As the movie progresses, her aims start to shift towards crushing Horton's spirit and building up her own reputation. Sour Kangaroo is too dismissive of the products of imagination and creativity even to the point she keeps her son Rudy jammed inside her pouch, leaving her with really serious back problems and him with just as serious emotional ones. She believes that outside the "comfort" her ideas provide him, non-conformity and anarchy are minutes away from turning their ordered life into chaos. Yet, in the end, all it takes is a simple act of friendship from Horton to cause a change of heart.

    * Rudy, voiced by Josh Flitter. Rudy is Kangaroo's young joey. Since his birth, he's been trapped in his mother's pouch, in which he now spends all his time. Over the course of the movie, he starts to question his mother's ethics as she continually tries to demolish the clover on which Horton has caught the Whos' speck of dust. Years after he should have been on his own two feet, his giant legs are crammed next to his head in an unnatural (and uncomfortable) position. But his stifling environment can't contain his free-thinking spirit, and Rudy is ready to take the next step, even if it's his first.

    * JoJo McDodd, voiced by Jesse McCartney. Jojo is the Mayor's only son and the oldest of the mayor's children. Since he is the oldest, JoJo is next in line to become the Mayor of Whoville, though he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps. He is afraid to speak because he is worried that he will disappoint his father. Because of this, he can come across as quiet, hardly ever speaking. However, he is able to hear rhythmic patterns in just about anything. His undiscovered voice is a vital asset for the Whos' survival. He also shows a surprising talent for inventions. After saving the town with his new found word, "YOPP", he begins speaking to his father and Horton.

    * Sally O'Malley McDodd, voiced by Amy Poehler. Sally is the Mayor's wife and mother of 96 daughters and one son named JoJo. With all of these children, Sally's responsibilities dwarf even those of her husband. Still, she's able to juggle them with the grace of a first lady. The last thing she needs is another problem child with an overactive imagination, but when her husband starts hearing voices, that's exactly what she gets. It's a situation even her sharp wit and pointed sarcasm can't defuse, but when the truth is revealed, she's willing to give it her all to help her husband save Whoville.

    * Doctor Larue, voiced by Isla Fisher. Dr. Larue is an eccentric Whoville scientist who can be a bit scatterbrained at times. However, being fresh out of Who University, she is willing to help the Mayor find out how they can preserve the peace that holds their town together. She even decides to put her self-peeling potato research aside to help the Mayor save Whoville. She doesn't pronounce English very well, but is understandable to anyone.

    * Vlad Vladikoff, voiced by Will Arnett. Vlad is an reclusive eagle who lives in a tree stump in a swamp surrounded by thorns. The Sour Kangaroo hires him to get rid of Horton's clover. At first, he agrees to do it in exchange for her son Rudy, or a brand new pair of objects never specified. After "thinking" it over, she uses reverse psychology to get him to do it for free. He speaks in a thick Romanian accent and extremely theatrical in his wickedness to the point of embarrassing himself.

    * Morton, voiced by Seth Rogen. Morton is a small blue mouse as well as Horton's best friend, and is the only animal in the Jungle of Nool who supports him. Even if he doesn't believe Horton, which he may or may not, he seems to be the only character trying to keep the elephant focused.

    * Yummo, voiced by Dan Fogler. Yummo is the rumbling leader of the Wickersham brothers who serves as a bully for Horton, as he sees him as an annoyance. He's hot-tempered, power-hungry, and just plain hungry. His constant greed for food rapidly increases his size and bulk.

    * Tommy, voiced by Jonah Hill. Tommy is a strange orange marsupial/primate/hippopotamus type creature that is one of the children of the Jungle of Nool that looks up to and views Horton as a teacher. He seems to have somewhat of a frat boy/smart aleck persona, but truly believes in what Horton is trying to do, even if he is being ridiculed for it.

    * Katie, voiced by Joey King. Katie is a small sheep-like creature that has strange habits, and Tommy's sister. She tends to say 'ah' a lot and speak random thoughts. For example, when she described what her speck world was like, she said that everybody was a pony, ate rainbows, and pooped butterflies. She also has the ability to float, which she demonstrates at the end of the film. Katie is one of the female pupils of Horton, as her teacher.

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