In the jungle of Nool, the elephant Horton hears a voice in a speck; he uses a clover to rescue the speck of dust and he makes contact with the Mayor of Whoville. Horton discovers that in that tiny speck there is a city crowded of people and he decides to leave Whoville in a safe place. However, the evil Kangaroo does not believe in his words and finds Horton dangerous for the children of Nool, making them believe in what they can not see, hear or feel, and incites the animals against Horton.

With the message "A Person Is a Person No Matter How Small", "Horton Hears a Who!" is a lesson of respect and rights of the minorities through hilarious situations. The animation is awesome, the characters are nice and I liked this great family entertainment. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Horton e o Mundo dos Quem!" ("Horton and the World of Who!")

Okay, many of you are about to become offended, but I've gotta say it. The movie version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (THE GRINCH) was a horrible movie in practically every way. The worst problem with it is that the entire moral lesson of the original story is lost and in fact the movie states the exact opposite of what the author intended!! In the book and Chuck Jones special, the Whos were nice folks that didn't need all the presents as they were sincere in their reverence for the holidays. In the Jim Carey remake, the Whos were all selfish and materialistic!! What a horrible way to ruin Dr. Seuss' vision! It's like translating the Bible and making Satan the good guy!

In light of how far THE GRINCH strayed, I especially loved HORTON HEARS A WHO because it didn't wander far from the source material or convolute the moral of the story. Sure, the story was changed a bit and several subplots were added, but I could accept this--after all, they had about 88 minutes to fill and there had to be SOME padding. However, the original story can still easily be distinguished and perhaps after this film, Seuss can finally stop spinning in his grave!!

So, apart from the faithfulness to the original story, what did I like? Well, I was once again thrilled to see Fox making CGI films. Their ICE AGE films were pretty good and HORTON is even prettier and more entertaining. Quality-wise, this is about on-par with a Pixar or Dreamworks production. I particularly loved Whoville--as with powerful computers, they were able to animate hundreds, if not thousands, of wonderful Whos. And it was cute all the little tiny touches--so much so that the film holds up well to repeated viewing in order to catch all the action and details. Plus the town looked very Seuss-ian--like the pages of the books come to life. It was a real joy to watch.

Was there anything I didn't like? Well, the song at the end by REO Speedwagon was simply terrible way to wrap up the film. It was schmaltzy and pointless and looked as if the producers were stuck finding a decent way to tie everything together. However, considering this is my only gripe, then this is still a heck of a film--one the kids AND parents can enjoy. Kids will love it and parents will actually not be bored--a rare achievement in a film.

I have always been a fan of Dr Seuss's funny and charming stories, but the adaptations of his work have had mixed results. There are timeless classics such as 1966's How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but there are also abominations such as 2003's The Cat in the Hat.

Horton Hears a Who! is one of the better adaptations of Dr Seuss's work, and succeeds amazingly well on its own terms. While aspects of the story are occasionally predictable and clichéd, and one or two of the character relationships could have been less obvious, it is colourful and hilarious entertainment for both children and adults, which compared to what it could've been is quite an achievement.

Even with the predictable and clichéd moments, Horton Hears a Who!'s story is a simple and entertaining one well done. This is further advantaged by fast pacing, funny and smart writing that stays reasonably loyal to Dr Seuss's style and very likable characters.

There is a lively vocal cast on board too, Jim Carrey shows he is great at comedy as well as drama and manages to be endearing as well as funny. Steve Carrell is great fun too, and it was delight to hear Annie's Carol Burnett in a supporting role. The soundtrack is infectious as well, but what made Horton Hears a Who! other than the humour was the animation, which is very clean, colourful and beautiful to look at.

All in all, a terrific film. 8/10 Bethany Cox