Horton Hears a Who! (TV special)
| Horton Hears a Who! | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animation |
| Created by | Dr. Seuss |
| Directed by | Chuck Jones |
| Voices of | Hans Conried Chuck Jones June Foray |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Chuck Jones |
| Running time | 26 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Cat in the Hat Productions MGM Television |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS (America) |
| Original airing | March 19, 1970 |
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 television half-hour long special based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who!. It was produced and directed by Chuck Jones - who previously produced the Seuss special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - for MGM Television. The special contains songs with lyrics by Seuss and music by Eugene Poddany, who would later write songs for Seuss' book, The Cat in the Hat Song Book.
Today, the rights to the special are owned by Turner Entertainment, as the latter owns the pre-1986 MGM library.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Horton is an elephant splashing in the watering hole of the Jungle of Nool on the fifteenth of May when he hears a person calling for help. The sound is coming from a small dust speck. Dr. H. Hoovey, an astronomer on the speck, believes that there's a world beyond the speck, but the rest of the Whos don't believe him at first. He explains to Horton that the speck is in danger if it's floating around. "A person's a person, no matter how small," says Horton as he decides to save the Whos. But the other jungle citizens don't believe him as they are unable to see them and can't hear as well. Meanwhile, the citizens of Whoville refuse to believe the existence of Horton, but eventually they do. Jane Kangaroo, the Wickersham brothers,and the Black-Bottomed Eagle are Horton's main and worst tormentors, but at last, the Whos make themselves heard. At the end of the special, Dr. Hoovey is relaxing in his chair, exhausted from the ordeal, when he sees a small speck of dust and hears a "Help!" on it, and says the final line: "Oh, no!"
[edit] Production notes
- Some animated cells featuring noisemaking instruments were reused from the 1966 television special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
- The Mellomen, including Thurl Ravenscroft, a singer on How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, performed another song for Horton Hears A Who!.
- Both Chuck Jones and Ted Geisel are famous for their styles of eye pupils. Ted Geisel used horseshoe shaped pupils while Chuck Jones used large circular pupils with solid colors. Both of these types of pupils are used in this cartoon as well as the 1966 special, and even a combined pupil.
- The song "Be Kind to Your Small Person Friends" is sung to the tune of "Stars and Stripes Forever".
- This is the last Dr. Seuss TV special and also the last TV special produced by MGM Animation/Visual Arts. In The Cat in the Hat, the studio change to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
- This is also the last Dr. Seuss CBS television special to feature the 1966-1970 Cat in the Hat Productions logo.
- This is also the last Dr. Seuss CBS television special to be directed by Chuck Jones. Jones died on February 22, 2002.
- This is also the last Dr. Seuss CBS television special to feature the Cat in the Hat Productions logo at the end until The Lorax.
[edit] Home video releases
The special was frequently included on home video laserdisc and DVD releases of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,[1] and was released on its own DVD on March 4, 2008. Bonus features include a songs-only version, the cartoons inspired by Horton Hatches the Egg, The Butter Battle Book, and Daisy-Head Mayzie, and the 1994 documentary In Search of Dr. Seuss.[2] It was also made available in high definition Blu-ray Disc on October 6, 2009 with all the bonus features except Horton Hatches the Egg, a DVD of the special, and a Digital Copy.[3]
[edit] Cast
- Hans Conried as Narrator / Horton / Dr. H. Hoovey
- Chuck Jones as Junior Kangaroo / Whizzer McWoff / JoJo
- June Foray as Jane Kangaroo / Birds
- The Mellomen as Wickersham brothers
- The MGM Chorus as Whoville
[edit] References
- ^ "DVD Review-Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The Digital Bits. http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews2/howthegrinchstolexmas.html. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "Warner Home Video Releases Dr. Seuss' Classic Animated Television Special Horton Hears a Who! on DVD, in an All-New, Re-Mastered Deluxe Edition March 4, 2008". Reuters.com. 2008-01-07. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS94627+07-Jan-2008+BW20080107. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "WHV Press Release: Seasonal Family Classics Combo Packs (Blu-ray)". Hometheaterforum.com. http://www.hometheaterforum.com/forum/thread/290382/whv-press-release-seasonal-family-classics-combo-packs-Blu-ray. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
[edit] External links
- Horton Hears a Who! at the Internet movie database
