"You do know that you are talking in rhyme, don't you?"
The people in the town of Thneedville live in a plastic paradise. They purchase fresh air and put fake plants in their yards. The entire city is surrounded by a wall and no one leaves town. Ted (Efron) is content with life, but the girl of his dreams, Audrey (Swift) dreams of having a tree. To make Audrey's dream come true, Ted ventures outside the city walls to see the Once-ler (Helms).
After some prodding, the Once-ler tells Ted his story. As an idyllic youth, he left home and found a paradise. The soft tufts of the Truffula Trees are the perfect material for his invention: the thneed. He chops down a tree, upsetting the creatures of the forest and annoying the Lorax (DeVito), the guardian of the trees. With the Mayor, Mr. O'Hare (Riggle), tracking his movements, can Ted hear the end of the story and save the day?
Hollywood has a spotty track record adapting Dr. Seuss' stories. In the 1950's-1970's several of his stories were adapted into animated TV specials, that added songs and music to Seuss' text. These specials were magical, and perfectly captured the whimsy and heart of the prose, and continue to be enjoyable. In the 90's, Hollywood started trying to bring the stories to film. The live-action films have been hit-or-miss. A few years ago, they made the decision to make a feature-length animated film of Horton Hears a Who, which was a success.
The story of The Lorax works best in the animated format... but I don't think this was the best they could do with the story. They remove almost all of the original dialog. The few scenes (such as the one quoted at the beginning of the post) that keep the prose, treat it as a joke or gloss over it, in favor of more "contemporary" language. Dr. Seuss' prose is part of what makes his stories charming and memorable (along with the fun illustrations). Yes, keep the Seussian dialog throughout could be problematic and isolate some of the audience, but the film could definitely use more.
When I saw this film at the theater, all the children in the audience loved it. They laughed and had a great time, and during quiet moments you could hear them ask their parent(s) questions. It was adorable. Adults probably won't enjoy it as much. The actors / actresses lending their voices to the film are interesting choices... some (like Betty White) feel like missed opportunities. The film is a musical (unlike the other Seuss feature films), and features numerous original songs... some work better than others.
Ultimately, read the book, then watch the 1972 TV special. It isn't a bad film, but it doesn't reach it's potential.
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012) 86 minutes
Director: Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda
Starring: Danny DeVito as The Lorax
Ed Helms as The Once-ler
Zac Efron as Ted
Taylor Swift as Audrey
Betty White as Grammy Norma
Rob Riggle as Mr. O'Hare
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