Paper Thin Walls

Horton Hears His Calling as a Pro-Life Activist for the Christian Coalition?

I opened my Facebook the day after seeing Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who" to find a nearly 4,000 word epistle from a friend promoting Horton as a crusader for the unborn. Citing the dream of a 16-year-old at a Justice House of Prayer and the sermon of some relatively unknown pastor, the Facebook note strived to push an agenda I couldn't find in the film itself.

Dr. Seuss was clever, sure. And he certainly snuck allegory into many of his children's stories, if not all. But to suggest the good doctor used an elephant as a pro-life activist in 1954, nearly 20 years before Roe v. Wade, is, well, absurdly absurd in a way that's not quite unheard (sorry, I had to fill the quota of Dr. Seuss reviews that attempt to be Seussian).

The film, to me at least, came across to me as rather pro-science, which is not to say it's pro-choice. Ladders are shaped like DNA strands, the one person who believes the mayor of Whoville is talking to a giant elephant in the sky happens to be a scientist, etc.

Yet despite the attempted hijacking of this film by pro-life activists, "Horton Hears a Who," is easily the best Dr. Seuss film adaptation so far, sticking closer to the tone of the children's story than "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" combined.

The lush atmosphere with its detailed flora and fauna sucks you into the world inhabited by Horton and the Whos. And there's an incredibly inspired and inventive scene with Horton as an anime martial arts star that more than makes up for some of the silly slapstick humor and myspace jokes.

And who can finish a Dr. Seuss post without linking to this genius.