Horton Hears a Who! (film)

Horton Hears a Who! also known as Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!, is a 2008 American CGI-animated movie based on the book of the same name by Dr. Seuss.

A person's a person no matter how small.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino. Written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio.

One elephant. One world. One story.

Horton

• A person's a person, no matter how small.
• [in Henry Kissinger's voice] I feel the diplomatic process is beginning to breakdown.
• I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, and an elephant's faithful one-hundred percent. That's my code, my motto.
• Come on guys, we're all mammals!
• HOW ABOUT THIS?! IF I GET UP REAL CLOSE, CAN YOU READ ME?!
• Hold on, Mr. Mayor. I may have to put up a fight! A frightened elephant can be very dangerous! All right, you've called down the thunder, buddy! Are you hungry for trouble? I'm an all-you-can-eat salad bar, take a bite!
• All right, I need to get this speck up to the top of Mount Nool A.S.A.P., whatever that means. Probably "act swiftly awesome pachyderm"! I mean, how hard can that be? [sees a loose rope bridge over a deadly chasm] It's a sheer plummet to certain death.
• I love the smell of bananas in the morning!
• Oh, hi Vlad. [Everyone gasps at this, assuming it to be Vlad Vladikoff the vulture, but it's actually the cute bunny who bakes cookies]
• [Watching the clover about to go into the pot of boiling beezelnut oil] NO!
• And most of all, I want to say thank the Mayor of Whoville who believed in me from the beginning.

Sour Kangaroo

• If you can't see, hear or feel something, it doesn't exist. And believing in "tiny, imaginary people" is just not something we do.[takes her son's clover he was examining after hearing Horton] Or tolerate here in the Jungle of Nool.
• [Horton suggested that he'd be able to get someone to believe him] You could do nothing of the sort, you won’t breathe a word of this lie to anybody else, especially the children, I don’t need you to poison their mind with nonsense. Our community has standards, Horton, if you want to remain a part of it, I recommend you follow them, and have a nice day.
• Horton is a menace, he has those children using their imaginations, it's sick.

Ned McDodd, the Mayor

• Horton is a giant elephant in the sky! [everyone looks up] Don't bother looking. He's invisible. And he's the one risking his life to get Whoville, which by the way is a speck on a clover, TO SAFETY!
• [Speaking to Jojo in the Featured Photos Gallery] You know what's awesome? This is awesome. Just look at the men and women hanging on these walls. You, my boy, are part of a family legacy that spans centuries. You know what? Your grandfather was Mayor of Whoville, mm-hmm. And your great-grandmother, that's right, all the way down to your... [cut to featured photos of his ancestors, including one at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Buffalo, which he calls "not-so-great", with the last one depicting a cave Who] ...Great-great-great-great...not-so-great...great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-greeeaat...grandfather. Someday, I hope to join them, and be one of the greats.
• [after being called a "boob" by the Chairman] He has the nerve to call somebody a boob? I would never call somebody a boob. He's a boob. Look at you. Yuck! Look at your face...and I bet you don't look so good with a stapler in your head! [throws a stapler at a painting of the Chairman, which bounces off and hits him in the face, leaving a staple implanted on his forehead, causing him to scream in pain]

Tommy

It's good.

Jessica

My world is called jessica land. Everyone worship queen jessica because jessica is so beautiful.

Dialogue

---

Horton: There's a tiny person on that speck who needs my help.

Sour Kangaroo: Absurd. There aren't people that small.

Horton: Well, maybe they aren't small, maybe we're big.

Sour Kangaroo: Horton…

Horton: No, really. Think about it. What if there were someone way out there, looking down on our world right now, and to them, we're the specks?

---

Chairman: Who wants the joy and glory and festivity of the Who Cenntenial to proceed as planned?

Whoville Citizens: YEAH!!

Chairman: And who like the Mayor thinks it would be better to spend the Who Cenntenial in an underground storage area?

Obnoxious Who: YEAH!!!

---

Nedː There all better. (Hedy and Hooly hugs)

Heather: Can I please have a Who-phone, Dad? Everybody else in my class has one.

Ned: Really? Everybody? [The girl shows Ned her class picture, which shows all her classmates sans her talking on a Who-phone] Oh… I'll think about it.

---

Ned: [after Horton asked if there was someone else there] Those are my wife and my children.

Horton: You have a family. [in amazement, and maybe a little envy]

Ned : I do indeed. [opens his wallet to show all his family] A beautiful wife, ninety-six daughters... [tons of photos unfurl, ending on the ground in JoJo's picture] ...And one son. [he sounds a little down when he says "And one son"]

Horton: [laughing] Busy guy.

---

Morton: [informs Horton about bad news, but is not facing towards him] Horton! Don't... [turns around] There you are. We got trouble. Wait. Stay. Wait. [stutters] Do you hear that? No, I'm here. Okay, listen. No! Go! Kangaroo has gone nuts, bananas. She's telling everyone that you should be kicked out of Nool.

Horton: She said that? I thought we were friends.

Morton: Word is, she's gone to Vlad!

Horton: Vlad. Vlad. I know two Vlads. Is it the bad Vlad or the bunny Vlad that makes the cookies?

Morton: [sarcastic] Yeah, Horton. She's sending you a bunny with cookies. I think we can assume it's the bad Vlad!

Horton: Yeah, that's good call.

---

Vlad: [chased Horton to the edge of a tree] Chess mate, it’s time for me to take the clover and crush all the people on it. [Meanwhile, everything on Whoville is shifting in the direction of Horton]

Horton: [realizes he's a few feet from the ground] Sorry, this is where we get off. [lets go of the tree, sending it smack into Vlad, who is sent flying]

Vlad: [Hits a cliff] OW! Right in the beak! [falls down]

Horton: [Recomposed] Cool line, usually I can't think of those things until later.

---

Sour Kangaroo: [emerges into a clearing where several animals are milling around, including Horton's students] What is happening to the Jungle of Nool!? There once was a time when people were people and specks were specks. [A Zatz-it nods in agreement] Well, I say if you can't see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn't exist. Our way of life is under attack, and who's leading that attack? HORTON!! [Everyone gasps]

Morton: [runs into the clearing] Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute! This is Horton we're talking about. You all know about him. He wouldn't hurt a fly. Except for that fly city he sat on, but he didn't do that on purpose. [For a moment, it seems the animals have reconsidered]

Sour Kangaroo: [With an angry glare] Shut up, mouse.

Morton: [laughs uneasily] Oh, Yeah. That's weird. I.. My brownies are burning. I gotta go. [rushes off to warn Horton]

Sour Kangaroo: Are we going to let troublemakers like Horton poison the minds of our children? [holds up Rudy and shakes him]

Yummo: Not the children! [Then all the Wickershams enter the clearing which is now filled with animals]

Sour Kangaroo: When Horton tells our children about worlds beyond the jungle, he makes them question authority. Which leads to defiance! Which leads to ANARCHY!!!

Yummo: Yeah! Horton must pay!

Glummox Mom: It's that speck!

Willie Bear: We have to do something!

Mrs. Quilligan: For the children!

Yummo: For the children!

Sour Kangaroo: [Has everyone on a roll, while one of Horton's students hide from view, not liking what she hears at all, but is too scared and powerless to stop it] Are we going to let him get away with this?

Animals: NOOOOO!! [They then rush off in the direction Horton is] Let’s get him!

---

Horton: [right below Mount Nool, with only a wide valley separating him from it and the end of his journey. Suddenly, he hears rumbling, then sees Morton running towards him, over the lip of the chasm.] Morton, I told you 100%!

Morton: Horton.

Horton: Morton, pick up your feet. Jeez.

Morton: [running as fast as he can] It's not me!

Horton: [Then Horton sees the animals of Nool come over the lip.] Oh, I see. It's an angry mob. Sorry, Morton. I thought it was you, it's making all the.. but it's... Oh, darn! [realizes what he's saying]

Morton: [Morton jumps into the air.] Run, Horton! [He then gets run over by the mob]

One of the Whickershams: There he is!

Whickersham: Get that speck!

Yummo Whickersham: Let's ROPE him!

Whickersham: Let's cage him!!!

---

Sour Kangaroo: [has Horton surrounded] Stop! [everyone stops]

Horton: [trying to lighten his situation] Hey fellas. Good to see you, all at once. You look really great, as a horde.

Sour Kangaroo: Horton, Horton, Horton. Look at the mess you've created for yourself. All this hullabaloo over a silly little flower.

Horton: [defensively] It's a speck.

Sour Kangaroo: Right. I mean, it's silly, really... all this talk of roping you and caging you... [in a dark tone] ...And well, we won't need to get into the details. The point is this angry mob, all the trouble you're in, it can all go away. [everyone looks confused at this]

Horton: [Surprised] Really?

Sour Kangaroo: Of course! All you have to do is admit, to everyone that THERE ARE NO LITTLE PEOPLE LIVING ON THAT SPECK! [points accusingly] That you were wrong and I was right. You do that and things can go right back to the way they were, but if you don't, you're going to have to pay the price. [The Wickershams then bring up a huge cage, which Horton winces at]

Horton: So, I just have to say it isn't true. [Sour Kangaroo smiles darkly. Horton pauses for a moment, then a look of determination comes over him] Go ahead. Rope me. Cage me. Do whatever you want, but there are people on this speck and they have a mayor, who has 96 daughters and 1 son named JoJo, who all share a bathroom, whatever that is. And even though you can't hear or see them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small. [Raises the clover, while the animals stop their angry bickering, and have looks of happiness, and hope now in their eyes. A Wickersham even stops himself from eating a bug he just picked up]

Sour Kangaroo: [For a moment, she looks touched] That was beautiful, Horton. [The anger springs back to her eyes] ROPE HIM! CAGE HIM! AND BURN THAT SPECK IN A POT OF BOILING BEEZLENUT OIL! [The Wickersham shrugs, and eats the bug]

---

[while the people of Whoville make noise to be heard]

Ned: Can they hear us now?

Horton: [while being roped and put in a cage] Listen please, it's the most beautiful thing.

Yummo: I don't hear nothing.

Horton: I don't think so, but keep trying, I'll never give in. [begins to strain against the ropes, and it take several seconds for the Wickershams to continue their pulling] Are you sure of every Who down in Whoville is trying?

About Horton Hears a Who! (film)

• On the design of the movie, I really felt that Dr. Seuss was our production designer. I got to travel to Audrey Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss’s [Theodor Seuss Geisel] wife) home where Dr. Seuss penned many of his later works. She gave us a wonderful tour and I saw a lot of his artwork on the walls. I saw a couple of sculptures he had done from characters he had drawn. They almost looked like mounted trophies on the wall.

• • Steve Martino, "Directing "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who": Steve Martino", Christian Cinema, December 1, 2008.

Cast

• Jim Carrey — Horton
• Steve Carell — Mayor Ned McDodd
• Carol Burnett — Kangaroo
• Will Arnett — Vlad Vladikoff
• Seth Rogen — Morton
• Dan Fogler — Chairman, Yummo Wickersham
• Isla Fisher — Dr. LaRue
• Jonah Hill — Tommy
• Jaime Pressly — Mrs. Quilligan
• Amy Poehler — Sally McDodd
• Charles Osgood — The Narrator
• Jesse McCartney — JoJo McDodd
• Joshua Alexander Flitter — Rudy
• Niecy Nash — Miss Yelp
• Laura Ortiz — Jessica Quilligan
• Colleen O'Shaughnessey — Angela
• Joey Lynn King — Katie
• Selena Gomez — Helga McDodd

External links

• Horton Hears a Who! quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Horton Hears a Who! at Rotten Tomatoes
• Horton Hears a Who! at Metacritic
• Trailer at Apple.com
• Trailer at THX.com

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