Toon Zone Talkback - "Horton" Undone by Hackery

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This is the talkback thread for "Horton" Undone by Hackery.
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Maxie reviews the movie, Karl reviews the promotional tie-in!
 
I noted in another thread that I ended up enjoying the movie a lot more than I expected. For once, I didn't imagine Jim Carrey's antics when I heard Horton.

I have to say that Blue Sky has a way with their visual look. Everything looked like I would have expected Suess's worlds to look in 3d, and I was most impressed by the way they pushed 3d to warp into the whimsy.

The character rigs must have been fantastic to work with, and I wish I could see how they were done. Horton was extremely expressive with his ears-- which took so many shapes and forms to go along with his behavior. Amazing stuff, and I hope the DVD release comes with behind-the-scenes goodies that show us how they accomplished some of these trickier shots.
 
I didn't like Antz. Prince of Egypt at least had ambition, but I didn't think it was very good. Aardman films are Aardman films; DreamWorks just sells them to the theaters.

I confess there are several DreamWorks films I haven't seen--Shark Tale and El Dorado, for instance--but I'm told I'm not missing anything.
 
Not missing anything with Road to El Dorado? That's a crock. This is one of the most underappreciated animated features in recent memory, with an amusing script, lavish animation and a fine Hans Zimmer/John Powell score (the Elton John/Tim Rice songs aren't that great, though).
 
I remember when it was being released, they were touting it as an animated flick where the goofy supporting sidekicks were the stars as opposed to the...sidekicks.
 
I saw the film this afternoon. It was a fun little confection of a film, light, sweet, easy to digest, with a palatable moral. The graphics were dazzling, the character design top-notch, and the depth of field in the backgrounds made it hard to believe it came from the same company that gave us those claustrophobic Ice Age movies. But Jim Carrey as Horton was the biggest surprise. Sure, Horton does spazz a bit now and then, which is not a personality trait evident in the earnest, loveable lug Seuss created for his book, and yet...somehow it works in this movie. (I know, I'm surprised as you are). In point of fact, Carrey's bouncy, freewheeling performance is subdued enough to lend credibility to Horton's credulousness, to make plausible Horton's instant acceptance of the notion that an entire civilization dwells in a dust speck perched precariously on a clover. This is because Horton has imagination, as he demonstrates in frequent self-indulgent monologues which range in subject from local wildlife to the vast unknown realms that lay within and without us. In other words, Carrey's trademark random vocalizing of disparate ideas actually serves the story in this film. It deepens Horton's character. Who'da thunk it? I know I didn't when I first read who was cast for the lead in this film. But I'm delighted to report that Carrey's a great Horton. My fears were unrealized. Plus he's supported in the voice crew by the droll Steve Carrell (as Horton's mouse-like friend Morton) and by the terrific Carol Burnett, here playing a snobby paranoid kangaroo. This movie could have been a mess, an annoying, loud, crude, ugly update of a children's classic. But it's not. It respects the source material (there's even a voiceover now and then quoting from the book), Horton and the Whos look like Seuss' drawings and yet have the breathtakingly realistic mass and elasticity the best of CGI can offer, and the book's central message - "a person's a person, no matter how small" - is upheld again and again through the protagonist's determination to protect and believe in something he can't even see. Best of all - there's wry humor in this film, there's even a very slight touch of irreverance...but there's not a speck of cynicism or vulgarity anywhere in sight. In this Nickelodeon-infested age of mean-spirited children's entertainment, that is a rarity to be cherished.

So I'd hardly call "Horton" a hack job. It's smart and sweet. JMHO.
 
*imagines Jim Carrey as RJ in Over the Hedge* ...*shudder*

If I remember correctly I was somewhat cringing at Jim Carrey's acting in the Horton trailers. He seemed so... eager to please and kindof annoying. And that was rather offputting enough for me to kindof skip this.
 
Actually, Steve Carell is The Mayor. Morton's voiced by Seth Rogen.

About the movie, it could've been far better than it was, but it's still Blue Sky's best outing so far. The musical number was horribly out-of-place and Horton's personality was thrown out the window, but it was enjoyable enough, had some truly great gags (albeit few) and visually, it's probably my favorite CGI film after Brad Bird's. Whoville was breathtaking.
 
1. Over the Hedge has already been made; no point in recasting it now.

2. What does Over the Hedge have to do with Horton Hears a Who?
 
Would have been terrible. All he would have done was crack crazy jokes and do his "The Mask"/"Ace Ventura" schtick. Bruce Willis was perfect in RJ's role.

That said, I still don't know if I want to bother seeing this at all. I did see Grinch and liked it on a smaller level (Jeffery Tambor was the real star of the film. HE should have been the Grinch).

Seems like critics either kinda like it, or pretty much hate it. It doesn't get "God Awful", but it doesn't get "Instant classic either."

That's the problem with Blue sky, to me. I think they have high quality animation, but the scripts... they seem like they're missing quite a bit. I have to say, I saw Robots for Robin Williams, and while he did do his wacky schtick, it fit in with the character. I liked both Ice Ages as well, but it seems that the first film needed a couple rewrites.
 
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