DannyDeVito and Betty White provide entertaining voices in a so-so cartoon.
In this film image released by Universal Pictures, animated character Lorax, voiced by Danny Devito, is shown in a scene from "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)"Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" TWO STARS
Rated PG for brief mild language.
Running time: 86 minutes
This week’s new kid cartoon is called “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” and I guess that’s a good thing. Because without the author’s name in the title, you might wonder where it came from.
It’s not that it’s a dreadful cartoon. It just feels like every other middling cartoon. (If you want to really appreciate how good Pixar and Dreamworks can be, sit through some animated movies they didn’t make.)
Of course, the source material isn’t that great to begin with. “The Lorax” came out the year after the first Earth Day, and during Dr. Seuss’ preachiest period; whimsical charm definitely took a back seat to pointed lessons about recycling and reforestation.
Well, OK. If we absolutely have to have a message, personally I’d prefer the one-tiny-size-fits-all lesson of “Horton Hears a Who,” but as a rule, outside of the lunatic fringe, I think we can all agree that trees are a good thing, and pollution is a bad one.
But there’s not that much more to the original book than that message. And there’s even less here.
At least the real Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” had, well, Dr. Seuss, and his wonderful art. But this “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” eschews his unique style in favor of less risky, more generic characters. It looks like something you’ve seen before.
In fact you have, if you saw “Despicable Me” – “The Lorax” is from the same team and it has the same rubbery, pre-made look and hungry-for-merchandizing feel. “Despicable Me” had a chorus of cute robots; this one has a trio of adorable fish.
There’s also some lazy stereotyping with the vocal cast. Or is it just a coincidence that the hero’s pushy mother has a clichéd New York Jewish accent, that the villain sounds a bit like a Jersey tough guy, or that one character’s stupid relatives all hail from the Deep South?
True, Dr. Seuss’ original story – in a world without trees, one boy searches for the last remaining seed – remains. As does the Lorax, a trippy kind of nature spirit – who, thankfully, is voiced by Danny DeVito, which at least anchors things in real comedy.
He’s fun, as is Betty White, who gives voice to the hero’s grandma. But Zac Efron and Taylor Swift add nothing but names for the poster as the young hero and his secret crush. And a newly added villain – a tiny capitalist with a Moe Howard haircut – is simply a bore.
It all ends with – as most cartoons seem to, these days – a big chase. That’s well done, at least, as is the Lorax (the character that’s truest to Seuss) and some of the backgrounds. A few forgettable songs are dropped in along the way and there’s not too much narrative self-righteousness.
Although that might have been preferable to the hypocrisy ot the cartoon itself – whose marketing includes cross-promotions with a brand of disposable diapers and a new SUV. Because, really, what’s truer to Dr. Seuss’ message than landfills and smog?