First Impressions: The Lorax

Hey everyone, Patricia here. Yes, it's been a while since I posted. But I've been busy going to school and studying, so I haven't had the time to post anything. Now that I'm back, time to make it up with another edition of First Impressions. Today's first impression happened to me last week when I went to the movie theater for the first time in four months and saw Red Tails. I saw a poster for an upcoming animated movie from Illumination Entertainment, the same company who created Despicable Me. It was a movie based on Dr. Seuss' classic story, The Lorax.



Just by looking at this poster, I have a 99% prediction that this movie is going to suck. Big time! For those of you who haven't read the book it was based on, it pretty much sums it up like this.



The story starts off with a young boy wandering into a dirty, polluted desolated town to visit a being known as the Once-ler. In exchange for 15 cents, a nail, and a shell from a great, great, great grandfather snail, (seriously, where the hell do you get that and where can I get it) he tells the story of the lush, green land that is now in place of the town and an orange creature called the Lorax.

The Once-ler looks around this beautiful forest filled with happy animals and examines the Truffula Trees and finds that he can make a product of it. He builds a factory and starts polluting the air, lake, and chopping trees for his greedy desire to make a fortune. But the Lorax sees this and tries to persuade him to stop what he is doing to his home, however the Once-ler doesn't listen to him and continues to run his factory as is. Eventually, all of the trees are chopped, the factory and town is deserted, the air is filled with polluted smoke, the lake is filthy, and all the animals and the Lorax leave the forest to move to another home. In the end, the Once-ler gives the boy the final Truffula Tree seed and tells him to plant it, give it water and sunshine, and protect it so it can eventually grow a forest so that the Lorax and the animals can come back.

Out of all the stories that Dr. Seuss ever wrote, this one was one of his absolute favorites. It's a story that may not be the best story for children for some, but it doesn't sugar coated or shove the message of protecting the environment in your face like most environmental stories for kids. I'm looking at you Captain Planet and Ferngully. However, in the end, the story shows a bit of hope that we can change our destructive ways and treat our environment better for everyone. That's a great story to tell to kids, especially today since global warming is rising in an alarming rate, we have more drought where rain is needed and more floods in places where it's not needed. We need to raise more awareness before it's too late and we can no longer avert the damage that we have done.



As of right now, the recent movie adaptations of these classic Dr. Seuss stories have been shat on. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, and Horton hears a Who are absolutely awful and from the looks of this, it'll probably follow the beaten path. But the nail in the coffin for me are the voice actors: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, and Danny DeVito as the Lorax. Epic fail! Still, I'll let you know if my predictions are correct when I see it. Catch you later around the Old School Lane.

-Patricia