Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax

With The Lorax, the fourth Dr. Seuss book re-imagined for film, we get a direct message: The Lorax “speaks for the trees,” promoting environmentalist ideals about conserving natural resources. The film version follows preteen Ted (Zac Efron), who lives in the over-industrialized town of Thneed-Ville, where the citizens are brainwashed into thinking that their plastic environment is paradise. When his crush Audrey (Taylor Swift) reveals her desire to see a real, live tree, Ted sets out on a quest to learn about what happened to the natural world, leading him to the home of the mysterious hermit The Once-ler (Ed Helms, in great voice and timing), who it turns out, is largely responsible for the deforestation. Danny DeVito is the (disappointingly subdued) voice of The Lorax, who urges Once-ler to reconsider his greedy ways and not cut down the beautiful Truffula trees for his own gains. It’s The Once-ler’s flashback scenes that make the film especially reminiscent of Dr. Seuss’s original tale. The forested world is brought to screen with the same vivid color schemes and fantastical illustrations as in the book. Cinemark 14, Feather River Cinemas and Paradise Cinema 7. Rated PG