BACKGROUND
The 2012 adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s treasured tale, The Lorax, brought together a few different US companies and entities.
One of these was the longstanding film studio Universal Pictures, who distributed the movie. Another was Illumination Entertainment, an animation studio that was still revelling in the success they’d just had with Despicable Me (2010), which, as we know now, has spanned a major animation franchise.
The other was of course the estate of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss, with the estate granting the rights to Illumination to adapt his beloved tale The Lorax for the screen.
Children in the US have grown up with Dr. Seuss stories for decades, preferably having their first introduction to the stories through the books but potentially through screen adaptations, which range from the bleak, like The Cat in the Hat (2003) with Mike Myers, to the wonders of something like Horton Hears a Who! (2008), which I haven’t seen but apparently seems to be one of the better movie adaptations of a Dr. Seuss book.
Since I am British, we have our own children’s stories that we discuss in schools and at home, with the best comparison to Dr. Seuss in terms of education and the number of book-to-screen adaptations is probably Roald Dahl. So, my knowledge of Dr. Seuss primarily comes from the films, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), as well as visits to the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park and its Seuss Landing area.
Dr. Seuss stories are known for being full of imaginative characters, colourful landscapes, and some sort of moral tale. The Lorax is no different, and in this case, the lesson is centred around the environment and the dangers of consumerism.
I had not heard of The Lorax prior to watching the 2012 film. I wasn’t even bothered about seeing it but for some reason I went with my sister to the local cinema in the summer to see it. I don’t really know why. It wasn’t like it was something we were desperate to see; it just happened to be on that day. Maybe we watched it for Zac Efron? Who knows!
But regardless, I actually enjoyed it. It was a good story; it had some catchy music; and a strong voice cast. However, my like of this film, probably helped by not growing up with the story, was not matched by all, with others saying it remains one of the worst adaptations of a Dr. Seuss tale, for a variety of reasons.
PLOT
The Lorax begins on a stage, as a character introduces himself to those watching. The character says he is the Lorax, and that he speaks for the trees. He reminds the audience that what they are about to see is all a true story, so they should pay attention.
The red curtain behind the Lorax then opens up to reveal the city of Thneedville. The Lorax explains, in rhyme, that Thneedville is an artificial city, but the people like it that way. There is no nature, only manufactured products, including trees, and that the people have even allowed themselves to start buying fresh air, with the owner of this air company being Thneedville’s mayor Aloysius O’Hare. Dodgy…
One person who lives in this town is teenager Ted Wiggins. On this day, Ted is flying his remote-controlled aeroplane around, and deliberately crashes it in someone’s garden. This is Ted’s crush’s house. Ted knocks on the door and a slightly older girl called Audrey comes to the door, not at all surprised that Ted is here to retrieve his plane, since this has happened before! She isn’t annoyed though and in fact invites him in, taking him to the back garden, to show him a painting of colourful trees that she has completed on the back of her house. It turns out Audrey is desperate to see a real tree, having found out they used to grow around here, and had tufts like silk and smelt of butterfly milk. This gives Ted an idea, especially as Audrey said she’d marry the man who found her a tree.
Over dinner, Ted asks his mother about trees. This confuses Ted’s mother as they already have a tree, that lights up and plays music. Why would he want a tree that’s all dirty and real when they’ve got that? Ted’s grandmother pipes up and says if Ted wants to learn about real trees and what happened to them, he needs to speak to the Once-ler. This gets Ted’s interest, but Ted’s mother says not to listen to Grammy’s crazy stories. Grammy asks Ted’s mother to get her teeth for her, and she leaves the room. Grammy actually has her teeth with her, but wanted Ted’s mother to go away so she could tell Ted more about the Once-ler. She tells Ted the Once-ler lives outside of town, where the grass never grows and the wind smells sore when it blows. She says: If you bring him 15 cents, a nail, and the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail, then he’ll tell you everything. Ted jumps on his moped and heads out of town, finding his way out of the steel-encased Thneedville.
Meanwhile, Mayor O’Hare is having a meeting with his marketing team, aimed at expanding O’Hare Air. They’ve come up with a plan and a commercial to sell single-use bottled air for consumers. The mayor isn’t so sure the citizens of Thneedville are stupid enough to fall for that, but the marketing team are convinced that the people will buy anything that comes in a plastic bottle, and with this plan requiring a new factory, the air quality will get worse so the people will believe they need to buy more fresh air; it’s perfect. Suddenly, the mayor is shown an alert by his security guards showing Ted leaving Thneedville. Mayor O’Hare tells security to follow him and see what Ted is up to.
As Ted progresses through the inner workings of Thneedville, he sees pipes pumping out oil in the gallons, and making his way out of Thneedville, it gets a whole lot worse, as Ted sees miles and miles of barren, black landscape. After dodging twisted metal structures, remnants of whatever used to be here, and surviving a death-defying jump off a cliff, Ted finds a tall, ramshackle house, outside which are numerous “Get Out” signs. Ted approaches the door of this house and finds it is the home of the Once-ler. He rings the doorbell, and is thrown into the air by a variety of inventive traps. Ted is grabbed by a hook and brought up to a boarded-up window, being told by the Once-ler to get out and leave him alone. But Ted refuses to leave, saying he has been told if he hands over some stuff, he’ll learn about trees. The Once-ler hasn’t ever had someone talk to him about trees before, believing that no-one cares about trees anymore. The Once-ler admits he is the reason why there are no trees, him and his invention, and launches into his story, starting a long, long time ago.
It starts with the Once-ler as a young man, leaving home so he can make his fortune, wanting to bring joy to the world with his new invention, the Thneed. He leaves behind his unsupportive family, consisting of his mother, twin brothers, aunt, and uncle. The Once-ler travels for miles and miles in his wagon, searching for the perfect material for his Thneed. Eventually, he comes across a colourful paradise, full of soft-tufted trees, Humming-fish, cute little bear-like creatures called Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans. The Once-ler is convinced this is the place where he needs to be, however, the animal creatures are quickly fed up with all of his human items coming to their home. The Once-ler tries to defend himself from their attack with two huge bags of marshmallows. It turns out these creatures really like marshmallows, and they become too distracted to attack the Once-ler.
Back in present day, Ted interrupts the story, wanting the Once-ler to get to the point, but the Once-ler refuses to shorten his story for anyone. Ted tells him to carry on then. Back with the Once-ler, he chops down one of the bright Truffula Trees, finding that this action has scared all the forest creatures away. The Once-ler takes the tree away with him, not realising that by chopping down this tree, he has summoned the mythical creature the Lorax, who appears from the tree stump. The Lorax mourns the death of this tree, putting rocks around it in commemoration, with the animals joining him until they have created a full circle.
The Lorax soon sees who is responsible for this and marches over to the Once-ler, who is harvesting the tuft off the Truffula Tree. The Once-ler is confronted by the Lorax, who says he speaks for the trees. The Once-ler tries to bribe the Lorax with a marshmallow, which the Lorax enjoys – but not enough to let this go. He tries to stop the Once-ler from setting up home here, and baits the Once-ler into showing he can be violent and angry. The Once-ler vows to chop down every tree around here, just to spite the Lorax. The Lorax threatens the Once-ler with a curse from all the forces of nature should he not leave the area by sunset. The Once-ler then tells Ted to return the next day to hear the rest of the story. Ted promises to come back tomorrow, although he doesn’t particularly want to.
The next day, over breakfast, Ted starts to fantasise about giving Audrey a tree on her birthday, and getting a kiss in return. He snaps out of it as his mother teases him for kissing the cereal box – and not for the first time either! Ted tries to head out to see the Once-ler, but his mother reminds him it is family time, a day for playing board games together. However, Ted’s mother quickly gets frustrated by how slow Grammy is, and says family time is over, because she needs time to herself! Grammy tells Ted this was all part of her plan, so now Ted can return to the Once-ler. On his way out of town though, Ted is confronted by Mayor O’Hare, who warns Ted not to start meddling in things he doesn’t understand, especially as Ted wanting trees back will destroy O’Hare’s air company, since trees create fresh air naturally. The mayor reminds Ted that Thneedville is a great place to be. It’s fun, has plenty to do – and is under constant surveillance.
After this talk, Ted pretends to go back home, before going back out of town as soon as the mayor and his security team have left. Ted returns to the Once-ler, who is a bit surprised to see him back. The Once-ler figures he must be here because of a girl. If a guy does something stupid more than once, it’s usually to impress a girl. Ted admits it is for a woman, actually, and that she wants to see a real tree. Ted is determined to get her one.
The Once-ler continues his story. After the Lorax threatened the Once-ler, the Once-ler ignored all the warnings, and managed to knit his first Thneed from the tuft of the Truffula Tree. He then goes to sleep. The Lorax enlists all the animals to steal the Once-ler’s bed and put it in the river. This plan goes swimmingly, until the Lorax notices one of the Bar-ba-loots – Pipsqueak – on the Once-ler’s bed, heading towards some rapids, rocks, and a huge waterfall. The Lorax tries to save Pipsqueak, even creating a ladder with other animals, wanting Pipsqueak to grab his hand, but the Bar-ba-loot is quickly distracted and ignores the outstretched hand, not noticing the danger he is in until it is too late. The Once-ler soon wakes up as he is dunked in the water, but he can’t do anything to save them. The Lorax tips a boulder into their path, hitting the bed, and catapulting the two of them to dry land. The Once-ler is knocked unconscious, revived only be the Lorax’s quick-thinking – to use the static electricity from the Bar-ba-loots to work as some sort of defibrillator! The Once-ler is thankful, until he realises the Lorax put him in the river in the first place. The Lorax tries to reason with the Once-ler. The Once-ler finally promises not to cut down any more trees.
The following morning, the Once-ler wakes up to find the Lorax and all the forest creatures in his home, eating his food, and using all his stuff. He doesn’t have time to deal with this right now, so he heads into town to sell his first Thneed. The Lorax can’t believe the Once-ler thinks anyone would buy this apparently versatile Thneed. And he is right – because the Once-ler does not sell the Thneed for days, instead being laughed at and having tomatoes thrown at him by the townspeople. The Once-ler gives up, throwing his Thneed away – not realising that it has landed on some woman’s head, acting like a hat, and her friends think it is really cool. The Once-ler simply heads back to the valley, disappointed.
However, the Once-ler, the Lorax, and the creatures soon hear a strange noise. It’s all the townspeople coming towards them, singing about how they all need a Thneed, loving how adaptable it is. The Once-ler, excited by this newfound success, calls his mother, telling all his family to get to the valley to help him run his business.
Ted returns home again, and takes his grandmother to the supermarket, believing the Once-ler will finally tell him what happened to the trees on his next visit. Whilst waiting outside, Ted sees Audrey and tries to play it cool. But Grammy arrives and starts to embarrass him, by saying how Ted talks about her all the time, and she’s even prettier than Ted had let on. Back at home, Audrey sees her tree painting has been completely covered over by O’Hare’s company. Ted also sees O’Hare has meddled in his plans, as he has closed up the door leading out of town permanently. Ted instead drives over the tallest buildings in the city, and slides down the town wall, to get back to the Once-ler again.
The Once-ler continues his story. His family arrive into the valley, loudly, with a grotesque RV that folds up and out into a huge mobile home. The Once-ler is pleased to see his family finally being supportive of him, now that his invention might make them all rich. But the Lorax is horrified to see how little the Once-ler’s family care for nature, with him even being insulted by the Once-ler’s aunt on multiple occasions. The Lorax tries to kick the Once-ler’s family out of there, but the Once-ler won’t let that happen; he needs them to build up his huge Thneed enterprise. The Lorax cryptically warns the Once-ler to be careful which way he leans, seeing he can’t get through to him again.
The Once-ler’s mother soon comes to the Once-ler to tell him that harvesting the tufts is simply too slow, and they’ll never be able to make enough Thneeds without chopping down the trees. The Once-ler initially rejects that idea, however, he is convinced it is the only way to make his business a success. The Lorax sees the trees being cut down and tries to speak to the Once-ler, saying this is very bad, but he is unable to talk to him face-to-face.
After some time, the Once-ler has created a whole new persona for himself, complete with long green gloves, sunglasses, a top hat, and an air of self-importance, and refuses to accept that what he is doing, by building factories and ruining the environment, is bad, because he’s making so much money. The Lorax comes to the Once-ler’s office, where he tries to confront him again. The Once-ler simply puts the blame for all this on the Lorax, as he never summoned those powers of nature he claimed to have to stop him. The Once-ler says he’ll keep cutting down the trees and making Thneeds, with nothing stopping him. Except the very last Truffula Tree has just fallen, leaving only miles of nothingness.
As two construction workers start talking down one of the Thneed billboards, they wonder who will come up with the next million-dollar idea. One begins coughing, giving the other one that exact idea – and who is the one with that idea? Aloysius O’Hare…
With no more Truffula Trees to make Thneeds out of, the Once-ler’s business soon closes down, and his family disown him, as he is no longer successful. The Lorax comes with all the forest creatures to show the Once-ler what he has done to their paradise. The Once-ler watches helplessly as the animals walk away, hoping to find a new home. The Lorax then beams himself back up into the sky, leaving behind only a ring of stones, with the word “Unless” carved in to one of them.
Ted comes to the realisation that the Once-ler was right; he was to blame for destroying all the trees. The Once-ler has been living as a recluse for years, ashamed of what he has done, pondering what that word “Unless” could possibly mean. But now, he knows. It must be about Ted, because “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Ted is given the last Truffula seed, and told to plant it.
Knowing what he must do, Ted rushes back to Thneedville. He tries his best to return without being seen by one of O’Hare’s cameras, but he is spotted. Ted comes to Audrey’s house, telling her to meet him at his house in a bit. Ted starts collecting what he’ll need to plant this tree, finding a bottle of water. Ted is called downstairs by his mother, not noticing the water bottle tip onto the seed. Downstairs, Ted sees Mayor O’Hare is here, wanting him to hand over the seed. Ted feigns ignorance, and the mayor orders his security guards to search Ted’s room. Luckily, the seed has somehow vanished. Ted’s mother sees what is going on and orders the mayor to get out of her house. As they go back downstairs, Ted sees his grandmother saved the seed, which has begun sprouting. Ted shows the seed to his mother and Audrey, before heading into the town to plant it.
Ted’s mother distracts one guard, leading him away from Ted, Audrey, and Grammy who are going in the opposite direction, almost driving over a half-constructed bridge. Meanwhile, on the moped, the other three see O’Hare’s blimp overhead, and he drops out of it with a jet pack and a guard on his back, chasing down the moped. O’Hare crashes into his other guard’s van, and continues on foot. The three get in an elevator before O’Hare can get to them. However, he sees the seed in Audrey’s hand, and tilts a big fan towards them, sending the seed flying. A further chase ensues as the two groups try to get to the seed first. It has fallen into an air canister. O’Hare has the canister in his hands, but thanks to Ted’s grandmother’s cane, they manage to retrieve it.
Ted, Audrey, and his grandmother find a spot to plant the tree in the centre of Thneedville, but there is no dirt. Grandma commandeers a digger, knocking off the head of O’Hare’s statue, which allows the ground to be broken, revealing some dirt. Ted tries to explain what he’s doing, but the people of Thneedville don’t care; they don’t want real trees here. They are dirty and impure. Audrey says the only reason O’Hare doesn’t want trees here is because it will threaten his air company. The people try to get the seed off Ted, so he grabs the other two and puts them into the digger, driving it right into the town wall.
The wall collapses revealing the destroyed landscape just outside Thneedville. The citizens of Thneedville look out in horror as Ted says he speaks for the trees, wanting to make changes to make Thneedville better. He says the first thing to do is to plant this seed. Mayor O’Hare attempts to get the people back on his side, but now they’ve seen the devastation they’ve been surrounded by, they say the seed should be planted, and be allowed to grow. Outside of town, the Once-ler cuts down the boards on his window, realising that Ted must’ve done what needed to be done. Ted has sure enough planted the Truffula Tree, and even gets a kiss on the cheek from Audrey for doing so!
After some time, nature has begun to be restored everywhere, both in Thneedville and by the Once-ler’s house. Animals have even begun to return to the area. The Once-ler then notices the Lorax has returned as well, where he tells the Once-ler “he done good”.
The film ends with the simple, but most important, message of the story, as written by Dr. Seuss, being displayed on screen: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not”.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Theodore “Ted” Wiggins is the catalyst for change in The Lorax, even though he’s not exactly an environmental activist. Ted would not have been at all interested in finding out about trees had his crush Audrey not stated an interest in them, but really, it’s lucky he did do this all for love, because had he not, nothing in Thneedville would’ve changed. As he said, nobody in Thneedville cares about trees and they’ve all been brainwashed to believe that the only things worth having are those that have been manufactured, like their light-up trees. Ted is brave and determined enough to go to the Once-ler to find out what happened to all the Truffula Trees that used to be around them all those years ago, ignoring the threats of Mayor O’Hare and listening to the advice of his grandmother and the Once-ler instead. He is then motivated to go up against the mayor and his loyal townspeople, showing them the errors of the generations before them, calling on them to help make the changes they need for the future. He is hoping that they are as affected as he was by seeing the barren landscape that encircles Thneedville – and they are, telling Mayor O’Hare to get out of town if he doesn’t want them to start planting real trees and making a difference.
Ted was voiced by Zac Efron, with the character name being inspired by that of Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor. Efron rose to prominence thanks to his role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical franchise for Disney Channel. After moving away from Disney, Efron went on to play Young Mike O’Donnell in the teen rom-com 17 Again (2009), and tried out a more dramatic role with his casting Charlie St. Cloud (2010) in the title role. He has since gone on to star in a variety of movies, with just a few of these being Teddy Sanders in Neighbors (2014) and its 2016 sequel; Matt Brody in the remake of Baywatch (2017); and portraying serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019). Efron also did not turn his back on movie musicals after High School Musical either, as he played Link Larkin in Hairspray (2007) and Phillip Carlyle in the smash-hit The Greatest Showman (2017), alongside Zendaya and Hugh Jackman. He also had his own travel documentary series called Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020-22), which streamed on Netflix. Efron recently starred as Chris Cole in the Netflix film A Family Affair (2024).
Ted’s mother and grandmother have two differing opinions on trees when Ted first asks about them. Ted’s mother, having grown up in Thneedville not knowing any better, is uncertain why Ted would be bothered about real trees, thinking they’re dirty and unclean, not right for Thneedville. She only comes to see the importance of trees after Ted shows her the Truffula Tree seed he was given by the Once-ler, and then supports her son in his mission to plant it and make Thneedville a part of the natural environment again. Ted’s grandmother, however, knows all about real trees, having apparently seen them when she was young. She sends Ted to the only person who can explain what happened to the Truffula Trees, the Once-ler. Ted’s mother believes it is just another story or myth, but it turns out Ted’s grandmother knew what she was talking about and sent her grandson to the right place. Ted’s grandmother is also very helpful in planting the seed in Thneedville, retrieving the seed from the air canister and even commandeering that digger to find a place to plant it.
Ted’s mother was voiced by Jenny Slate. Slate is no stranger to voice acting, having gone on to voice Dawn Bellwether in Zootopia (2016) and its 2025 sequel for Disney Animation, and voicing Gidget the Pomeranian in The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its 2019 sequel for Illumination Entertainment, who just so happened to make The Lorax. She returned to Illumination to voice Valeria Da Vinci in Despicable Me 3 (2017). Outside of that, Slate has also voiced the character of Tammy Larsen in the adult animated series Bob‘s Burgers (2012-present) and its 2022 movie. She also co-created the film series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On with Dean Fleischer Camp, which became a feature film in 2021; Slate voiced the character of Marcel. In person, Slate was a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975-present) for one season between 2009 and 2010, and went on to be cast as Zoe in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011). More recently, she starred as Emma in the Amazon Prime comedy film I Want You Back (2022) opposite Charlie Day, and was cast as Allysa Kincaid in the romantic drama film It Ends with Us (2024).
Betty White was chosen to voice Grammy Norma in The Lorax. White is well-known for her role as Rose Marie Nylund in the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985-92), reprising the role in its short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace (1992-93). She won an Emmy for her role in The Golden Girls in 1986, being nominated in the Best Actress in a Television Series category on other occasions. She later was cast as Elka Ostrovsky in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010-15). In movies, White appeared in various comedy films, including as Mrs. Kline in Bringing Down the House (2003), which starred Steve Martin and Queen Latifah; as Grandma Annie in The Proposal (2009), with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds; and as Grandma Bunny Byer in You Again (2010), alongside the likes of Kristen Bell and Jamie Lee Curtis. White also voiced the character of Mrs. Claus in Disney’s animated special Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa (2010), going on to voice Bitey White in Toy Story 4 (2019) for Pixar. White was named a Disney Legend in 2009. White sadly died in December 2021, at the age of 99, with a documentary movie about her life, Betty White: A Celebration, being released in 17th January 2022, which would’ve been her 100th birthday.
The Once-ler is shown to be a mysterious figure in The Lorax, living out his life as a recluse, not being visited or being seen by anyone from Thneedville since he lives way away from the town. The Once-ler has simply become a myth or a legend. However, Ted’s grandmother knows all about him and sends her grandson to talk to him, to learn about what happened to the trees. The Once-ler has clearly lived with regrets for many years for what he did out of greed, chopping down all the trees just so he could sell pointless items people didn’t need and make a lot of money, sending all the animals away, and creating a toxic wasteland. He has taken responsibility for his actions, keeping a Truffula Tree seed aside for just the right moment, for just the right person to plant it. After Ted shows interest in the story, the Once-ler decides Ted is the one who should plant the seed and change Thneedville for ever, reversing the Once-ler’s mistakes all the years before. Luckily, things end on a happier note for the Once-ler, as the Lorax returns to forgive him and thank him for still caring.
The Once-ler was voiced by Ed Helms. Around the time of The Lorax, Helms was known for his role as Andy Bernard in the sitcom The Office (2005-13) from Season 3. He had previously been a correspondent on The Daily Show (1996-present) from 2002 to 2006. Helms is also recognisable for his casting as Stuart “Stu” Price in The Hangover trilogy, as well as for his appearances in a string of other comedy films, including as Brad Gurdlinger in We’re the Millers (2013); as Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy in Tag (2018); and as Bill Walker in Netflix’s Family Switch (2023) with Jennifer Garner. His other voice work outside of The Lorax includes voicing Captain Underpants in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), and voicing Graham Pudowski in Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021). Helms also recently co-created and starred as Nathan Rutherford in the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls (2021-22).
The Lorax tells us and all the characters he interacts with that he speaks for the trees. He is the one sent to ensure that nature is being respected by all those around it, so imagine his shock at seeing that a beautiful Truffula Tree was chopped down by a human, just so he could make some stupid Thneed from it and make a lot of money. The Lorax and the Once-ler initially come to an understanding, where the Once-ler promises not to chop down any more trees, having been grateful to the Lorax for saving his life after he almost got sent down a waterfall. The Lorax believes the Once-ler will keep his word, and isn’t too concerned anyway as he doesn’t believe the Thneed will ever be popular. Sadly, the Once-ler’s word means nothing, and he does start to cut down all the trees. Well, his family start doing that – and the Once-ler is fine with it because it is all for his business, and a necessity to ensure he builds a Thneed-making empire. The Lorax is unable to reason with him from that point on, despite numerous attempts, and once the last tree has fallen, he sees he has failed in his mission to protect the trees and disappears back into the clouds, leaving the Once-ler with only his thoughts and regrets. Luckily, the Lorax returns and seems to have forgiven the Once-ler for what happened in that valley all that time before, as he once again has a purpose here, now there are new trees to protect from harm.
The Lorax was voiced by Danny DeVito, who returned to voice the character for various other language dubs of the film, such as Italian, German, Russian, and Spanish[1]. DeVito has had an incredible acting career spanning multiple decades. Some of DeVito’s best-known roles are being cast as Louie De Palma in the series Taxi (1978-83), for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy; and for playing Mr. Wormwood in Matilda (1996), the adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel that he just so happened to direct as well. He also starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the comedy film Twins (1988) where he played Vincent Benedict, reuniting with him to play Dr. Larry Arbogast in the film Junior (1994). DeVito is also well-known for his voice role as Philoctetes in Disney Animation’s Hercules (1997). DeVito has continued to star in movies, such as appearing as the Ringmaster in Tim Burton’s live-action remake Dumbo (2019), and for his role as Eddie in Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and its 2026 sequel Jumanji: Open World. Other recent movies roles include being cast as Bruce Davis in Disney’s Haunted Mansion (2023) and starring alongside his daughter Lucy in the festive film A Sudden Case of Christmas (2024). DeVito currently stars in the sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present), having played the part of Frank Reynolds since Season 2.
Audrey is Ted’s crush. She is slightly older than him, so Ted finds her intelligence and knowledge intriguing, wanting to impress her by having the same interests. Audrey shows Ted a painting she did on the back of her house of all the Truffula Trees that used to exist. It shows what a talented artist she is, but really, Audrey just wants to see a real tree, telling Ted she’d probably marry the man who got her a tree. Audrey is clearly impressed with Ted when he shows her that he has a Truffula Tree seed, and wants to help him plant it, even if it means going against Mayor O’Hare. She’s not intimidated by him one bit, and like Ted, stands up for her beliefs in front of all the people of Thneedville. In the end, her and Ted are able to plant the tree together. Audrey was named after Dr. Seuss’s wife, Audrey Geisel.
Taylor Swift was tasked with voicing Audrey, having only had a couple of movie roles beforehand; she had a cameo appearance in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) for Disney Channel, and was cast as Felicia Miller in Valentine’s Day (2010). She went on to appear in a few other films, including as Bombalurina in the heavily-criticised adaptation Cats (2019) and then as Elizabeth Meekins in Amsterdam (2022). Swift is mostly known as a singer, starting out in country music before becoming one of the biggest global pop superstars of all time. She has had over ten major studio albums, with numerous hit singles like “Love Story”, “You Belong with Me”, “Fearless”, “Mean”, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “22”, “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, “Anti-Hero”, “Cruel Summer”, “Is It Over Now?”, “The Fate of Ophelia”, and “Opalite”. She has won various American Music Awards and Grammys amongst many others for her music, and has been on various sold-out tours, including her recent The Eras Tour from 2023 to 2024. Swift has also taken part in various documentary films about her life and career such as Miss Americana (2020), and Taylor Swift: The End of An Era (2025) docuseries on Disney+.
Mayor Aloysius O’Hare, as we see partway through The Lorax, actually began his career as a humble city employee. From his work there, he saw how gullible people could be about buying things they didn’t need. This sparked an idea in his brain to start selling fresh air to people in containers, thus bringing his business empire O’Hare Air to life. Through his continued “improvements” in Thneedville, O’Hare has become mayor of the town, wielding great power. Despite his small stature, O’Hare can be menacing, threatening Ted not to start bringing any ideas about trees into “his town”. He also has big security guards to back up those messages. When Ted brings the Truffula Tree seed into Thneedville, the major initially has the backing of the people – until they see just how bad things are outside of Thneedville. They then turn against the mayor and he is sent away from Thneedville on his jet pack. He probably should’ve just accepted defeat and got on board by that point!
Rob Riggle voiced Mayor O’Hare here, having had various roles in comedy movies before The Lorax. Some of these include playing Jack Telmont in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006); being cast Randy in Step Brothers (2008); and his cameo appearance as Officer Franklin in The Hangover (2009). Riggle also played Mr. Walters in 21 Jump Street (2012) and Mackenzie in Night School (2018). Riggle was also a cast member on Saturday Night Live for one season from 2004 to 2005 and a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2008. In terms of voice acting, Riggle voiced the character of Noel in the Disney animated television special Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2011), and voiced Doug Clancy in their Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). He has also voiced Lance Loud in the Nickelodeon series The Loud House (2016-present).
Those are the main characters in The Lorax, but we do also briefly see some members of the Once-ler’s unsupportive and uncaring family. His mother, twin brothers Brett and Chet, Aunt Grizelda, and Uncle Ubb wave the Once-ler off as he leaves home to go and make his fortune from his new invention, the Thneed. They laugh at him as he drives away, not expecting him to ever be anything great. However, when it turns out the Thneed is really taking off, the family drop everything and come to build up the Once-ler’s big business empire, even convincing him to break his promise to the Lorax and cut down the trees in the name of “progress”. Once the last tree is felled and there is no more material to make any more Thneeds, the family leave, basically disowning the Once-ler. They are terrible people.
The Once-ler’s mother was voiced by Nasim Pedrad, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2014. She also voiced the character Jillian in Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 2 (2013). Recently, she played Ashley in the Netflix sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) and is set to have a role in Jumanji: Open World. She also voiced the character Zia Zanna in the animated Disney series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (2023-25). Danny Cooksey voiced Brett and Chet.
Aunt Grizelda was voiced by Elmarie Wendel who is perhaps best known for her role as Mamie Dubcek in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001). Stephen Tobolowsky voiced Uncle Ubb. Tobolwsky is known for such comedy roles as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day (1993), Mr. Bates in Freaky Friday (2003) and its 2025 sequel, and Ned in the Hallmark holiday films Haul Out the Holly (2022), its 2023 sequel, and Haul Out the Halloween (2025). He also voiced the character of Principal Purdy in DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014). In series, Tobolowsky played the role of Principal Earl Ball in The Goldbergs (2013-23) and its spin-off Schooled (2019-20), prior to his recurring role as Rabbi Cohen in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This (2024-present).
MUSIC
Although Illumination Entertainment are not known for creating animated musicals, The Lorax happens to be one, with five original songs appearing in this film, and many others seemingly written but not used. The music does not compare to the likes of those from Disney Animation, but nonetheless they are quite catchy.
The movie begins with the song “Thneedville”, introducing this oddly environmentally-unconscious place to the audience, where they find it amusing that people who swim in the pond come out of it glowing, and how much the people of Thneedville love all the purchases and new construction around, not bothered in the slightest that all this means they now buy fresh air… It’s quite a cheesy song, but gives a good introduction to Thneedville, its citizens, and their overly manufactured ways. “Thneedville” was performed by the cast of The Lorax and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.
“This is the Place” is the song the Once-ler sings, feeling very excited to have found just the place to start constructing his Thneeds, discovering that the tufts of the Truffula Trees are the perfect material to make them from. He soon makes enemies of the forest creatures though. This song is performed predominately by Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul. Only part of the full song “This is the Place” is heard in The Lorax movie, but a different version exists on the soundtrack under the name “This is the Place (Tricky Version)”. The End Credits of The Lorax does not credit the song “This is the Place”, only a song called “These Trees”, so this might be another name for the same song.
After the Once-ler successfully constructs his first Thneed, he immediately goes to the market to sell it. He comes up with the song “Everybody Needs a Thneed”, hoping to enlighten people about just what it is. He has no luck initially, but once it inadvertently lands on someone’s head, becoming a hat, suddenly everyone comes to the Once-ler, singing this song, demanding their own Thneed. “Everybody Needs a Thneed” was performed by the pop band The 88 and Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.
“How Bad Can I Be?” is the song that follows on from the Lorax’s warning about cutting down trees and breaking his promise. He tells the Once-ler what he is doing is a bad thing, but the Once-ler doesn’t see how creating a business empire is bad, morphing into someone completely different to the person who came to the valley. “How Bad Can I Be?” was performed by Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell, Cinco Paul, and Kool Kojak. This is the villain’s song in The Lorax, I suppose, but it’s quite upbeat, as the Once-ler doesn’t realise he is the villain of the story at this point in the film.
The final song in The Lorax is “Let It Grow”. It shows all the people of Thneedville agreeing with Audrey and Ted that something needs to change in their town, after seeing the devasted wasteland that exists around Thneedville. They decide their best option is to plant that last seed. Weirdly, this song and this final sequence make me cry. I think it’s something to do with seeing a group of people come together as a collective to make a difference. It’s quite a sentimental song but it’s still good. “Let It Grow” was performed by the cast of The Lorax, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.
A different version of “Let It Grow” is used as the End Credits song, as original illustrations from The Lorax book roll by. It is titled “Let It Grow (Celebrate the World)” and was written by Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Ester Dean, Cinco Paul, John Powell, and Aaron Pearce. The song was performed by singer-songwriter Ester Dean. Dean has written hit songs for various artists, including Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj. She went on to be cast as Cynthia Rose Adams in the Pitch Perfect films series, as well as voicing Legsly in Trolls World Tour (2020) for DreamWorks.
The rest of the soundtrack consists of other songs that were originally written for The Lorax, and are listed on the soundtrack as original demos in most cases. One of these is “Let It Grow Gospel Ending”, performed by Jenny Slate and other singers from the film. Apparently, this was an unused ending for the “Let It Grow” sequence. I like the quieter way “Let It Grow” ends in the film, and am glad they didn’t use this ending. There is also a demo for “Thneedville”, which has the same basic melody as the version heard in the final film, although some of the lyrics are different, with additional verses, like one for Ted, presumably, talking about how he wants a “Whosit”. I personally prefer the film version of this song.
“The Once-ler’s Traveling Madness” is just the Once-ler jamming on his guitar as he rides through various places, looking for the best place to make his Thneed. He’s basically just singing whatever he sees, and does appear to be descending into madness as the journey looks hopeless. I just found this song annoying, to be honest! It was performed by Ed Helms as the Once-ler, who I believe also played the guitar for his numbers in the film.
The next song on the soundtrack is “I Love Nature”, which would’ve likely been used as the song that the Once-ler sings when he arrives at the Truffula Valley. This song, talking about how much the Once-ler likes nature and all the animals around him, is at odds with what the Once-ler does next, i.e., cuts down the trees, so I feel that “This is the Place” fits better within the film than this song would’ve done. It was performed by Randy Crenshaw.
Following that are the songs “You Need a Thneed” and “Nobody Needs a Thneed”, which use basically the same tune as “Everybody Needs a Thneed”. “You Need a Thneed” seems to have been performed by Keith Slettedahl and The 88, featuring Antonio Sol, Fletcher Sheridan and Taylor Graves. “Nobody Needs a Thneed” was performed by Fletcher Sheridan and Randy Crenshaw. I’m assuming there would’ve been two songs, one for when the Once-ler was upbeat about his invention, and the other for when he realises nobody is buying it. I think “Everybody Needs a Thneed” was fine to use in place of these two songs.
Finally, there is the song “Biggering”, referring to the Once-ler saying he plans to keep on “biggering” his empire, regardless of the Lorax’s warnings about what he is doing to mention. This song was meant to be used in place of “How Bad Can I Be?”. “Biggering” was performed by Gabriel Mann, Randy Crenshaw, and The 88. I think this song is too serious for this type of film, so I understand why “How Bad Can I Be?” was used instead.
The Lorax also contains other credited songs that are not in the soundtrack. Some of these are brief excerpts of well-known pieces of music. One is these is “The Hustle”, which can be heard as Ted’s mother shows how much better their plastic tree is than a real one, putting it on “Disco Mode” to show him. “Disco Mode” clearly means play “The Hustle” – I’d love that if I owned that tree. “The Hustle” was written by Van McCoy, and was performed by Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony. Another is “Happy Birthday to You”, originally written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, used in Ted’s daydream presenting Audrey with a tree on her birthday. The party attendees sing this song to her as she blows out the candles on her cake. The other is the “Mission Impossible Theme”, written by Lalo Schifrin. It is sung by the fish in The Lorax, as they put the Once-ler’s bed in the river. The final credited track in The Lorax is “O’Hare Air Jingle”, written and performed by Chad Fischer.
As well as the soundtrack featuring songs from The Lorax and others intended for it, which reached No. 24 in the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums chart, an additional soundtrack was released, for the full musical score. Both soundtracks were released in February 2012.
The score for The Lorax was composed by John Powell, who has worked on the music for a large number of animated movies. At DreamWorks, prior to his work with Illumination Entertainment on The Lorax, Powell had previously worked with Harry Gregson-Williams on the music for DreamWorks’ Antz (1998) going on to work on Shrek (2001) and Chicken Run (2000) with him, before working on the How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy for the studio. Powell also collaborated with world-renowned composer Hans Zimmer for the music on further DreamWorks Animation films, including The Road to El Dorado (2000) and their Kung Fu Panda franchise. More recently, Powell returned to work on the How to Train Your Dragon 2025 live-action remake, and is credited as a co-composer of the score, alongside Stephen Schwartz, on Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025). Powell was also the composer on Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and went on to work with Illumination again to write the music for Minions & Monsters (2026).
Within the score, I like the track “Truffula Valley Fantasy”, playing as the Once-ler comes across the valley and the Truffula Trees, wanting to set up shop there to make his Thneed, because it showcases what a fantastical place this valley is. I also like “Funeral For a Tree”, showing what kind of an impact this one action has had on the Lorax and the forest animals, as they mourn the loss of this felled tree. You also have more action-based pieces of music in this soundtrack, like “Thneedville Chase”, used for the sequence of Ted, Audrey, and Grammy trying to get away from Mayor O’Hare and his guards. The track “Valley Exodus” is another example of a change of mood in this soundtrack, going from wondrous one minute to disastrous the next, playing as the Once-ler finally realises that his business empire has destroyed the natural environment, forcing all the forest animals he lived peacefully alongside for a time to flee the area, and find a new home.
John Powell was nominated at the Annie Awards with Cinco Paul in the category of Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production for their work on The Lorax, however, they lost out to Henry Jackman and his team for the music in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Powell was also nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards for Best Original Film Score, but lost to Dario Marianelli’s score for Anna Karenina (2012).
PRODUCTION
The Lorax could not have existed as a movie without the original Dr. Seuss story.
The Lorax was first published in 1971, and its environmental message was very fitting for the time, as conversations about this subject were increasing around this time, with the first Earth Day being held in April 1970.
The original story has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide since its publication date, and is widely used in education, particularly in the US. President Lyndon B. Johnson was seemingly a fan of the story and its environmental themes, as the original artwork and manuscript of this book are housed at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, having been donated by Dr. Seuss himself, apparently.
However, for all its good intentions, The Lorax story has come under attack by some, accusing the book of being nothing but propaganda, even leading to some schools and libraries banning it. There were warnings ahead of the 2012 film release too, about how the story is indoctrinating children against big industry[2]. Wow.
Shortly after the publication of The Lorax came its first screen adaptation. This was the 1972 television special The Lorax which aired on CBS in the US on 14th February 1972, coming to Canada’s CBC Television on 22nd October 1972. Dr. Seuss himself actually wrote this 25-minute special. Eddie Albert, who had played Irving Radovich in Roman Holiday (1953) was cast as the narrator, whilst Bob Holt provided the voice of the Lorax. Holt went on to voice other characters in later Dr. Seuss television specials.
Forty years later came the 2012 movie from Illumination Entertainment. The animation studio was founded in 2007 by Chris Meledandri, with Universal Pictures financing and distributing their movies. Their first film was Despicable Me, which has become so beloved in the years since its release that it has spanned numerous films, spin-off prequel films, short films, and even theme park attractions. The film Hop (2011) then followed, a live-action/animated hybrid all about the Easter Bunny, which was not as well-received, but I personally love it and watch it every year.
So, how did this up-and-coming animation studio get to make an animated film based on one of the works of Dr. Seuss? That all goes back to Horton Hears a Who!, where Chris Meledandri was an executive producer, having secured the rights to the book from Dr. Seuss’s widow Audrey Geisel. Geisel was clearly happy with how Horton Hears a Who! was received, allowing Meledandri the rights to adapt The Lorax next.
Chris Renaud was chosen to direct The Lorax, having previously worked at Blue Sky Studios in the animation department. Blue Sky Studios produced Horton Hears a Who!, so Renaud had a role in the making of that film. Renaud moved to Illumination Entertainment, where he first directed Despicable Me, and followed up his direction on that film, and The Lorax after that, with Despicable Me 2. He later directed The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its 2019 sequel, and directed Despicable Me 4 (2024). Renaud was also the voice of the forest animals in The Lorax.
The writers of The Lorax were Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, who had both co-written The Santa Clause 2 (2002) for Disney prior to their later screenwriting credits. They had also previously written Horton Hears a Who!; Despicable Me; and Hop, with Brian Lynch; before working on The Lorax, going on to co-write Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, and The Secret Life of Pets, again, with Brian Lynch. More recently, Paul and Daurio co-created the Apple TV series Schmigadoon! Separately, Daurio worked on Despicable Me 4 with Mike White, whilst Paul co-wrote the screenplay for the Netflix film Ladies First (2026).
It’s never easy to adapt a novel or book into a feature-length film. In the case of The Lorax, it is obviously a very short story so the story was going to have to be extended, via additional characters and different locations.
Although Ted technically is a character in the book, Ted is just a boy in the original story with no name, who goes to the Once-ler because he is curious to hear the story of the Lorax. Audrey is an original character for the film, and her love of trees is Ted’s motivation to go to the Once-ler, so he can figure out how to get a tree for her. Ted’s family are extra characters for the film as well, to give him more of a backstory. This is also the reason behind the scenes with the Once-ler’s family. Mayor O’Hare is the primary villain of The Lorax film, whereas he does not exist in the original story, with the only villain being the Once-ler himself. The Once-ler’s face is never seen in the book either.
Thneedville is not the name of the town in The Lorax book, and the setting of the story is only by the Once-ler’s house in the original tale. Thneedville was created for the movie, probably as a bright, colourful contrast to the wasteland where the Once-ler lives, as well as to show how consumerism has taken over a whole town and its people, deluding them into thinking this life they’ve built is good enough.
The Once-ler does not have trouble selling his Thneed in the original tale, with a man just coming by and buying the first Thneed, whereas the Once-ler has a lot of trouble at the market when he tries to sell his Thneed in the movie, even to the point where he gives up and tosses the Thneed away. A deleted scene from the movie shows the Thneed being used for all kinds of things, including as a parachute, a blanket for a cat, and as a cape, before landing as a hat on a woman’s head, making the Thneed famous. The movie simply shows the Once-ler tossing the Thneed to the side, and it ends up on the woman’s head[3].
The book sees each set of animals – the Bar-ba-loots, the Swomee-Swans, and the Humming-fish – all leaving the valley at different times, showing how specific parts of the Once-ler’s new business have contributed to damaging their natural habitats. The film has all of the animals leave the area all at once. The movie involves more of a friendship between the Once-ler and the Lorax too, not wanting the Once-ler to be simply greedy with no redeeming qualities as he appears in the book. The Once-ler promises the Lorax he won’t chop down any more trees, only going back on his promise after pressure to expand his company from his family. The Lorax returns to the Once-ler at the end of the movie, showing he has forgiven him as we see that nature is coming back to the area, thanks to him motivating Ted to plant that last seed. The book simply ends with Ted being given the seed and told to plant it; we don’t get to see whether he does or not[4].
The animators were very excited to adapt Dr. Seuss’s novel, knowing his quirky and whimsical worlds would be fun to imagine in animation. They did use the illustrations from the original story of The Lorax as a starting point, knowing that they would not be able to translate the drawings exactly into 3D, so the spirit of the characters would need to shine through if that was the case. The Truffula Trees required some experimentation for example, to ensure they looked like they did in the book, with a fluffy, candy floss top, but they also had to look believable and like they belonged in this world they were creating. The forest animals were made to look cuter and cuddlier than they perhaps do in the original story.
The Lorax and the Once-ler are the two main characters in the book, so designing them to be recognisable was important. A lot of time was spent on designing the Lorax, with particular attention focused on his moustache and how it should look. The Lorax in the movie is made to have a thick, but well-groomed moustache, with fluffy eyebrows to match. His fur also looks more groomed and sleeker than it does in the original illustration. The orange of his fur is bright too, to match the colourful valley around them and to contrast with the bleakness that comes later, after the trees are destroyed. The Once-ler was simply a character with a pair of green gloves in the book. The animators had to make the Once-ler a full human character, so they could animate his backstory. In this case, they made the Once-ler just an ordinary person, showing that anyone can give in to greed and do things they wouldn’t normally. However, as the Once-ler starts to become a big deal, thanks to his Thneed sales, he dresses himself up in a suit, a top hat, a long green coat – and of course, those green gloves. The Once-ler is shown to still be wearing those gloves as a recluse, probably as a reminder of what he did and who he became. You also see at the end of the film he has grown a moustache to rival that of the Lorax, and wears a Thneed as a scarf.
The Seuss estate was said to have been incredibly supportive during the making of this movie, and the voice actors were incredibly proud to be a part of this animated film, having grown up listening to and reading Dr. Seuss stories[5].
As all good animation studios do, Illumination left plenty of Easter eggs in this film, to reference earlier movies, as well as to give something for people to look out for during re-watches of the film. For example, Ted’s sneakers include a logo of a minion with the brand name “Gru Shoes” printed on them, referencing Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me film. There also seems to be a police officer character who appears in The Lorax and in Despicable Me 2, which came out the following year. If you look closely at Ted’s cereal box, after he gets caught kissing it by his mum, you’ll see it says that the cereal is enriched with tar oils, and contains 13 addictive “plastofeens” and 50 “badamines”. Yum. This shows to what extend the town of Thneedville has given into their buying habits, seemingly not even bothering to read the small print or nutritional information on anything they buy. Another Easter egg you might spot is that Grammy Norma is close to spelling the word “Lorax” during the family board game scene, which is cut short by Grammy’s deliberate slowness[6]!
RECEPTION
Following on from its premiere at Universal Studios Hollywood on 19th February 2012, complete with the walkaround character of the Lorax, The Lorax movie premiered in the US and Canada on 2nd March 2012, on Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
The Lorax did not reach some countries, particularly certain ones in Europe, until the summer months of June and July, probably hoping for the best turnout from the school holidays, whereas others received The Lorax shortly after North America. The Lorax was released in both standard 2D as well as IMAX and 3D.
Shortly after The Lorax’s release in America, it was reported that The Lorax had had the best opening weekend of any film in 2012 – although it was only March – making more than $70 million in its first three days, specifically $70.7 million. Its closest competitor was the teen comedy film Project X, released on the same day, which only reached $20.8 million[7]. The Lorax also had the best opening ever for a non-sequel animated title at that time, beating out Pixar’s The Incredibles in 2004, with its $70.5 million. Another record The Lorax broke was the best showing for any animated film since Toy Story 3’s release in Summer 2010, which had $110.3 million[8].
It is possible that the marketing campaign for The Lorax made a big difference to its financial figures, emphasising the fact that Zac Efron and Taylor Swift were in the voice cast, aiming at getting young viewers excited to watch the film, along with tie-ins with companies such as IHOP, which had themed menu items, and even Mazda, for some strange reason… I guess they wanted to look environmentally friendly!
However, these impressive, and even potentially surprising, opening box-office numbers did not lead to the film being a huge success. Although it did modestly well to make just under $349 million at the Worldwide Box Office in 2012, it failed to make much impact outside of North America, ending the year at No. 22 on that list. This was behind many other animated movies, including Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, at No. 14 with $471 million, and Pixar’s Brave at No. 13 with just under $540 million. The third instalment of DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar series, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, reached as high as No. 8, making $746 million, and Ice Age: Continental Drift, the franchise’s fourth movie, hit $877 million in worldwide takings, ending 2012 in fifth spot.
2012 was not only a big year for animation, but it was a big year for cinema in general, as multiple movies had box office takings of more than $1 billion, such as The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The first Hunger Games also came out that year, making $694 million, as did the final film to come from the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn – Part II, which made just under $830 million.
The reviews were just as much of a mixed picture, with some liking that The Lorax was colourful, lively, and relatively faithful to the book, accepting that some story elements would have needed to be extended to make a full-length feature film. Others said the eco-conscious message came across nicely without being too preachy, and they felt the voice cast did well with their performances. Those that liked the film have also encouraged others to not read too much into the movie, and to view it as simply an entertaining story.
However, on the other side, many felt The Lorax was boring and over-extended, feeling this adaptation of a Dr. Seuss novel was no better than The Cat in the Hat, which has been universally panned. I personally think that’s quite unfair to say. The Cat in the Hat is horrifying; The Lorax is not. The Lorax movie was said to lack charm and be too zany and cartoony, especially with the chase sequence at the end. Viewers who disliked this version of The Lorax have generally said the 1972 television special is significantly better. It also irked some that The Lorax was missing quintessential Seuss rhyming dialogue, other than some brief excerpts in the movie’s story and in the Lorax’s opening narration, which was disappointing for fans of the book and Dr. Seuss. The decision to show the Once-ler as a person was another factor that caused some to dislike this adaptation, feeling that it went against Dr. Seuss’s original idea to not show his face so the Once-ler could represent anyone. The reason why the Once-ler was shown in the movie was apparently to show viewers that the Once-ler is just like them, and to humanise him, instead of appearing as a faceless monster. I can understand both points of view here.
The Lorax did not take award season by storm as other animated movies have done. But it was nominated at the Annie Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Character Design in a Feature Production, losing out to ParaNorman. At the Kids’ Choice Awards, Taylor Swift was nominated for Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie, but the winner in this category was Adam Sandler for his role as Count Dracula in Hotel Transylvania, yet another animated film released in 2012. The Lorax fared slightly better at the Teen Choice Awards, having Zac Efron and Taylor Swift both nominated for Choice Movie: Voice for their roles as Ted and Audrey respectively, with Taylor Swift winning this one.
LEGACY
Despite The Lorax not being a huge, critical success, there have still been a variety of references and extensions of this 2012 film to come out in the years since.
One of these are the three “mini-movies”, also known as “shorts”, that Illumination Entertainment released, featuring characters from The Lorax. These short films allowed the animators to focus on characters that were not the main focus of the movie’s storyline, namely the forest creatures. One of these mini-movies, Forces of Nature, was based on a scene that had originally been created to come before the river rescue sequence. However, they decided the idea was too similar to the more important river rescue, as it also sees the Lorax and the forest creatures attempt to get the Once-ler away from the valley, in this case, making him believe the forces of nature have come to get him. It was felt this scene could feel too repetitive to the audience, so it became its own separate story. The other two movies, Wagon Ho! and Serenade, were written by The Lorax’s screenwriters, but were original concepts planned for the film that did not make it in for one reason or another. Wagon Ho! sees two of the Bar-ba-loots, Lou and Pipsqueak, take the Once-ler’s wagon for a spin on their own. But obviously they don’t really know how to drive it, lose the donkey, and end up rolling away at high speed, before making a lucky landing back outside the Once-ler’s house. Unfortunately, although the Bar-ba-loots survived the journey, the wagon did not… Serenade is about Lou attempting to impress a female Bar-ba-loot through song, but a singing battle soon ensues as Lou is overshadowed, using the fish to help boost his performance. In the end, neither Lou or the other Bar-ba-loot competing with him wins her heart! These short films were included in the bonus features of the film’s Blu-Ray release[9].
There are also some references to The Lorax at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park at its Universal Orlando resort, specifically at the Seuss Landing area of the park. Some theming elements relate to the story, including recreations of Truffula Trees and other parts of the story, even a statue of the Lorax himself, and you might be lucky enough to see the Lorax as a meet-and-greet character at the Dr. Seuss Character Zone. The story of The Lorax has also been told as part of the Oh! The Stories You’ll Hear! show at Seuss Landing, featuring a storyteller and Dr. Seuss characters. There may be some merchandise related to The Lorax at shops within this area too, although there doesn’t seem to be too much in the way of official merchandise, other than some emblazoned items of clothing. Movie posters, a plush toy of the Lorax, and physical copies of the movie and the original book are also still available to purchase online, even if they are not in the Universal stores.
The Lorax film showed that despite not being a critical success and a thoroughly treasured movie it had some relevance online as clips and moments from the movie popped up in various memes. This could be considered bad because the memes are essentially poking fun at the film and its characters, like taking stills out of context, but these jokes are all in jest and I bet those at Illumination Entertainment got a kick out of them; I’m pretty sure they can take some light mocking in their stride. These memes are also a good thing because, although The Lorax was not a commercial success, it clearly still had a place in the world. It’s better to be mocked than forgotten and ignored!
The mediocre response to The Lorax did not stop other screen adaptations of Dr. Seuss coming in the years after 2012 either. For example, Illumination Entertainment had some success adapting the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for the 2018 animated movie The Grinch, with the main character being voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. It actually became the highest-grossing Christmas film, making over $550 million, and still remains in that position today. Warner Bros. are set to release two further animated films based on Dr. Seuss’s works. One is their film The Cat in the Hat, set for release in November 2026 with Bill Hader in the title role, and the other is reportedly set to be an adaptation of Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, due for release in March 2028.
There has even been a stage musical version of The Lorax since the release of The Lorax movie in 2012. Following on from a whole sequence based on the story of The Lorax being cut from Seussical the Musical after its initial run in Boston back in 2000, not making it to the final show that transitioned to Broadway, The Lorax premiered as a stage musical, written by Charlie Fink and David Greig, at The Old Vic Theatre in London, where it ran for a limited time, from December 2015 to January 2016. It received highly positive reviews from critics, and returned for another short run in October and November 2017. The musical then played in Toronto, Canada from December 2017 to January 2018, and went on to be performed in Minneapolis in the US from April to June 2018. It then ran at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from July to August 2018. It should be noted that the musical is based on the original book, not the 2012 movie; the songs are new and original to the stage show.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Whenever a studio announces they’ll be adapting a popular book for either a film or series, there will be at least two differing opinions on that. People will either be excited or horrified.
In the case of The Lorax, a favourite childhood story for many, especially those in the US, the 2012 film was met with a mixture of responses. Some felt the movie did justice to the story, whereas others did not and were unhappy with the extended story.
However, The Lorax movie did expand the reach of Dr. Seuss and his stories to those who perhaps had not grown up with his books. The Lorax in particular is an important tale to tell because it has an environmental focus. Sure, the movie isn’t perfect but it does introduce environmental themes to children, and warns them against the dangers of years of industrial growth and how vital nature is to our world.
The Lorax film is a piece of entertainment aimed at children. It’s a musical, colourful journey that I’m sure interested plenty of viewers within the target audience. And if it happened to interest some adults, as it did me, then that is simply a bonus.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Universal, ‘The Lorax Featurette: Danny DeVito speaks to the world!’, Universal Pictures UK Official YouTube Channel, 25th July 2012.
[2] Credit: Daniel Nasaw and Kate Dailey, ‘Five interpretations of The Lorax’, BBC.co.uk, 3rd March 2012.
[3] Credit: Universal, “Deleted Scene”, from The Lorax (2012) UK DVD (2012).
[4] Credit: Dr. Seuss, ‘Full Episode: The Lorax I Official Animated Read-Along I Storytime I Dr. Seuss’, Dr. Seuss YouTube Channel, 18th April 2025.
[5] Credit: Universal, “Seuss to Screen”, from The Lorax (2012) UK DVD (2012).
[6] Credit: CineWave, ’25 Amazing Details You Missed in The Lorax’, CineWaveCentral YouTube Channel, 9th June 2023.
[7] Credit: BBC News, ‘Dr Seuss animation The Lorax has best 2012 debut so far’, BBC.co.uk, 8th March 2012.
[8] Credit: Pamela McClintock, ‘Box Office Shocker: ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ Opens to Record-Shattering $70.7 Mil’, HollywoodReporter.com, 4th March 2012.
[9] Credit: Universal, ‘The Lorax (2012) I Behind the Scenes’, DVDXtras YouTube Channel, 18th June 2025.