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While the new version is burning up cinemas, Warner has reissued the original Lorax in high-def....
Warner. / 25 Minutes / 1972 / Unrated / Street Date: February 14, 2012
In anticipation of the new Lorax feature film Warner Bros. Has released this Friz Freleng/David H. DePatie produced short. Also produced by Dr. Seuss himself, this short keeps the tone and tight narrative of the original book. The story follows the “truffula trees", the trees that inhabit this colorful Seussian world and the small creature that speaks for the trees.
When “the Once-ler,” a green armed man whom we never see other than his arms, begins cutting down the truffula trees to create a versatile product called a “thneed” the Lorax warns him of the damage he’s doing to the other creatures that depend on the truffula trees. This is all bookended with a boy in a dead, waste-filled world asking the Once-ler how the world ended up this way.
It’s a cautionary environmental tale thinly veiled in a colorful and rhyming world. At the same time I would judge it as a fair representation of how industry cares more about profits than the environment and how some would damn the world in pursuit of the almighty dollar.
The short is fun and at times funny with great animation that harkens back to Friz Freleng’s style in Looney Tunes and the Pink Panther Show. With great voice work by Bob Holt as both the Lorax and the Once-ler and catchy songs that further and expound upon the plot this is a high quality short. If you love the book, or just saw the feature film and wish to have the story on video you and your kids should enjoy this Blu-ray greatly. Personally I love the Seuss style and quality traditionally animated films, so I’m glad to add this to my collection.