The Lorax, the book by Dr. Seuss, is being made into a 3D movie featuring Danny DeVito voicing The Lorax according to USA Today.
“Danny has this wonderful ability to be acerbic and grouchy but at the same time absolutely lovable,” Meledandri says. “It’s almost like Walter Matthau had. His comedic edge was very sharp, but he always maintained that warmth.”
The villains of the film will be voiced by two alums of The Daily Show. Ed Helms (currently of The Office) will play The Once-ler – a shortsighted, greedy creature who chops down every tree he can find to make his Thneeds, which are “a thing everyone needs.”
And Rob Riggle (the cop from The Hangover) is a new character: O’Hare, another industrialist who sells cans of fresh air to the polluted world the Once-ler creates and wants to keep it that way.
Everything in this post, starting with the revelation that they are making a 3-D movie of The Lorax, makes me sad. It just goes downhill from there.
Maybe at the very least it’ll hold true to the book’s environmental message by highlighting the eco-friendly energy-harnessing capabilities of Dr. Seuss spinning in his grave.
At least it’s not live action and starring Jim Carrey.
Dr. Seuss was #7 on Forbes’ Top-Earning Dead Celebrities this year with $11 million. Charles Schulz was #4 with $33 million.
No Jim Carrey… or Mike Meyers… That’s about all this has going for it…
Sad, really. I thought Seuss himself lost a bit of charm after he began doing the easy reading books. “Cat in the Hat” was a good story, but what followed was a lot of precious, formulaic pablum that doesn’t belong in the same category as Thidwick, If I Ran The Circus or McElligott’s Pool. But at least that was Dr. Seuss cheapening his own legacy. Every artist has the right to do that.
This system of cranking out lousy films, however, is just more profiteering by his family. The movie will suck, but grandparents will buy the DVD in droves and kids won’t know the difference. A sad development, but hardly a shock, coming from a corporate entity with a set of lawyers rivaled only by Disney and the US Olympic Committee for vigilance and lack of humor. It’s all about the benjamins.
The only funny thing left is that he began as something of a socialist.
August said: “hold true to the book?s environmental message by highlighting the eco-friendly energy-harnessing capabilities of Dr. Seuss spinning in his grave.”
I literally laughed out loud.
Alan, if you were ever thinking of starting a “comment of the week”, I think this is a good time.
Oh and this movie sounds horrible.
August said: “Maybe at the very least it?ll hold true to the book?s environmental message by highlighting the eco-friendly energy-harnessing capabilities of Dr. Seuss spinning in his grave.”
Now THAT is a spit-take of Seussian proportions – and a perfect statement on the “remakes” that infest studios like a virus that cannot yet be killed…