Shannon and I took the 4 youngest, ages 9-15, to see this movie over the weekend. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss has been one of my favorite children's books since I worked at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center. The movie has been added to, as it needed to be, to fill up an hour and half on the big screen but the main message, "A person is a person, no matter how small," remains.
The story focuses around a bumbling elephant named Horton, who discovers a miniature world on a speck of dust that he carries around on a flower in his efforts to save it from destruction. The rest of the jungle creatures seem unable to hear the voices coming from the speck, likely because their ears are nowhere near as large as the lovable Horton. The jungle animals, include an over-protective, domineering, nearly abusive "pouch schooling" kangaroo mama and her poor unsocialized joey who says that Horton is causing the children to use their imaginations and not to think for themselves. That was an area the filmmakers seemed to have a theme going on throughout the movie that was offensive to me but also allowed for some good conversation with our children who do not feel the way the producers implied homeschooling to be. It was noticeable though that it was the young pouch schooled joey that ultimately saved the speck from its intended hot oil destruction, therefore thinking for himself and making the right decision. A few usages of the words boob and idiot spattered through the movie could be offensive to some as well.
As a family we were able to discuss homeschooling, the value of life including the unborn and the protection of God for his people. We also talked about the filmmakers efforts to sway people's opinions and thoughts on certain subjects. Overall, we give the movie 6 thumbs up.
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