Horton Hears a Who! is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House.[2] This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whoville, a tiny planet located on a speck of dust, from the animals who mock him. These animals attempt to steal and burn the speck of dust, so Horton goes to great lengths to save Whoville from being incinerated.
"A person's a person, no matter how small" is the most popular line from Horton Hears a Who! and also serves as the major moral theme that Dr. Seuss conveys to his audience.[3] Horton endures harassment to care for and ensure the safety of the Whos, who represent the insignificant. Horton Hears a Who! has been well-received in libraries, schools, and homes across the world. The book has been adapted as a 1970 television special and a 2008 animated film by Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox Animation, and much of its plot was incorporated into the Broadway musical production Seussical.[4]
Background
Geisel began work on Horton Hears a Who! in the fall of 1953. It is his second book to feature Horton the Elephant with the first being Horton Hatches the Egg. The Whos would later reappear in How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. The book's main theme, "a person's a person no matter how small", was Geisel's reaction to his visit to Japan, where the importance of the individual was an exciting new concept.[5] Geisel, who had harbored strong anti-Japan sentiments before and during World War II, changed his views dramatically after the war and used this book as an allegory for the American post-war occupation of the country.[6] His comparison of the Whos and the Japanese was a way for him to express his willingness for companionship. Geisel strived to relay the message that the Japanese should be valued equally, especially in a stressful post-war era.[7] He dedicated the book to a Japanese friend.[8]
Plot
The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who, "On the 15th of May, in The Jungle of Nool", while splashing in a pool, hears a speck of dust talking to him. Horton surmises that a small person lives on the speck and places it on the top of a red clover, vowing to protect it. He later discovers that the speck is actually a tiny planet, home to a community called Whoville, where microscopic creatures called Whos live. The Mayor of Whoville asks Horton to protect them from harm, which Horton happily agrees to, proclaiming throughout the book, "A person's a person, no matter how small".
Throughout the book, Horton is trying to convince the Jungle of Nool that "a person is a person no matter how small" and that everyone should be treated equally. In his mission to protect the speck, Horton is ridiculed and harassed by the other animals in the jungle for it since they believe that anything that can't be seen or heard is nonexistent. He is first criticized by the sour kangaroo and her joey. The splash they make as they jump into the pool almost reaches the speck, so Horton decides to find somewhere safer for it. But the news of his odd new behavior spreads quickly, and he is soon harassed by the Wickersham Brothers, a group of monkeys (which are actually apes). They steal the clover from him and give it to Vlad Vladikoff, a “black-bottomed” eagle. Vlad flies the clover a long distance, with Horton in pursuit, until Vlad drops it into the middle of a field of clovers that stretches for hundreds of miles.
After an extremely long search, Horton finally finds the clover (the 3,000,000th flower) with the speck on it. However, the Mayor informs him that Whoville, the town on the speck, is in bad shape from the fall, and Horton discovers that the sour kangaroo and the Wickersham Brothers (along with their extended family) have caught up to him. They tie Horton up and threaten to boil the speck in a pot of "Beezle-Nut" oil. To save Whoville, Horton implores the little people to make as much noise as they can, to prove their existence. So almost everyone in Whoville shouts, sings, and plays instruments, but still no one but Horton can hear them. So the Mayor searches Whoville until he finds a very small shirker named JoJo, who is playing with a yo-yo instead of making noise. The Mayor carries him to the top of Eiffelberg Tower, where JoJo shouts out a loud "Yopp!", which finally makes the kangaroo and the monkeys hear the Whos. Now convinced of the Whos' existence, the other jungle animals vow to help Horton protect the tiny community.
Publication history
Horton Hears a Who! was published on August 28, 1954, by Random House Children's Books which is a division of the publishing company Random House.[2] There are four formats of the book that exist including a hardcopy version, a paperback version, an e-book version, and an audio version. There are several editions of the hardcopy version including a "Party Edition" and a 65th-anniversary edition. Dr. Seuss has sold hundreds of millions of copies in over thirty languages of his well-known children's books, which includes Horton Hears a Who![9]
Horton Hears a Who! is written in anapestic tetrameter, like many other Dr. Seuss books.[10] Unlike some of his books, however, Horton contains a strong moral message—"a person's a person, no matter how small"—which Thomas Fensch identifies as "universal, multinational, multi-ethnic. In a word: Equality".[11]
The book unites two polar opposite worlds through Horton's determination, integrity, faithfulness, and bravery.[12]
Horton Hears a Who! received praise for the moral message Dr. Seuss exemplifies through Horton the Elephant. A 2002 news article in the Santa Fe Reporter details comedic performer Susan Jayne Weiss saying, "Horton is the ultimate metaphor for believing in yourself, your mission and what you know to be true, against societal prescriptions to the contrary".[13] Ben Witherington of the Asbury Theological Seminary applauds Dr. Seuss for his work in the characterization of Horton as the elephant fights to show the other animals that even the small people are people deserving of respect and love. Additionally, Witherington commended Dr. Seuss for his disdain for cynicism while proving that the imagination can solve life's troubles.[14]
Peter Tonguette, writing for National Review, lauded the book's intricate and thoughtful rhymes and appealing illustrations defined Seuss's work.[15]
Horton Hears a Who! was adapted into a half-hour animated TV special by MGM Animation/Visual Arts in 1970. It was directed by Chuck Jones, produced by Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), and narrated by Hans Conried, who also voiced Horton. The Sour Kangaroo (voiced by June Foray)'s name is Jane Kangaroo while her son is named Junior. Horton's contact in Whoville was not the Mayor, but a scientist named Dr. Hoovie who was also voiced by Hans Conried. Vlad Vladikov's name was changed to Whizzer McWoff. Dr. Seuss was awarded a Peabody Award for the animated special Horton Hears a Who![17]
My Friends, Where Are You? (1987 Ukrainian animated short film)
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I Can Hear You (1992 Russian short film)
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2000 stage production
The story, along with Horton Hatches the Egg, also provides the basic plot for the 2000 Broadway musicalSeussical with "the biggest blame fool in the jungle of Nool", Horton the Elephant, as the main protagonist. Seussical debuted on November 30, 2000, at the famed Richard Rodgers Theatre with high expectations. The music in the play was written by Tony Award winners Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty.[4] The show flopped and eventually closed six months later on May 20, 2001.[18] Known as one of "Broadway's biggest losers", Seussical lost an estimated 11 million dollars.[18] During its time on Broadway, Seussical's Kevin Chamberlin was nominated for one Tony Award (Best Actor in a Musical).[18]
Horton Hears a Who! was adapted into a computer-animated feature-length film of the same name in 2008, using computer animation from Blue Sky Studios, the animation arm of 20th Century Fox. The cast includes Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, and Amy Poehler. It was released on March 14, 2008.[9] The film received 18 award nominations including a Kids' Choice Award, Golden Schmoes Award, and Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.[citation needed] The film also won the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Award at the ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards show.[19]
Upcoming streaming series
An animated series based on the book Horton Hears a Who! aimed at preschoolers, among other Seuss story adaptations, is in development for Netflix.[20]
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American children's author and cartoonist. He is known for his work writing and illustrating more than 60 books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His work includes many of the most popular children's books of all time, selling over 600 million copies and being translated into more than 20 languages by the time of his death.
The Cat in the Hat is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red bow tie. The Cat shows up at the house of Sally and her brother one rainy day when their mother is away. Despite the repeated objections of the children's fish, the Cat shows the children a few of his tricks in an attempt to entertain them. In the process, he and his companions, Thing One and Thing Two, wreck the house. As the children and the fish become more alarmed, the Cat produces a machine that he uses to clean everything up and disappears just before the children's mother comes home.
Seussical is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on Horton Hears a Who!, Gertrude McFuzz, and Horton Hatches the Egg while incorporating many other stories. The musical's name is a portmanteau of "Seuss" and the word "musical". Following its Broadway debut in 2000, the show was widely panned by critics, and closed in 2001 with huge financial losses. It has spawned two US national tours and a West End production, and has become a frequent production for schools and regional theaters.
Horton Hatches the Egg is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published in 1940 by Random House. The book tells the story of Horton the Elephant, who is tricked into sitting on a bird's egg while its mother, Mayzie, takes a permanent vacation to Palm Beach. Horton endures a number of hardships but persists, often stating, "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent!" Ultimately, the egg hatches, revealing an elephant-bird, a creature with a blend of Mayzie's and Horton's features.
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss is an American children's puppet television series based on characters created by Dr. Seuss, produced by The Jim Henson Company. It aired from October 13, 1996, to May 15, 1998, on Nickelodeon. It combines live puppets with digitally animated backgrounds, and in its first season, refashioning characters and themes from the original Dr. Seuss books into new stories that often retained much of the flavor of Dr. Seuss' own works.
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street is Theodor Seuss Geisel's first children's book published under the name Dr. Seuss. First published by Vanguard Press in 1937, the story follows a boy named Marco, who describes a parade of imaginary people and vehicles traveling along a road, Mulberry Street, in an elaborate fantasy story he dreams up to tell his father at the end of his walk. However, when he arrives home, he decides instead to tell his father what he actually saw—a simple horse and wagon.
The Grinch is a fictional character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the main character of the 1957 children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson.
On Beyond Zebra! is a 1955 illustrated children's book by Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. In this take on the genre of alphabet book, Seuss presents, instead of the twenty-six letters of the conventional English alphabet, twenty additional letters that purportedly follow them.
If I Ran the Zoo is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss in 1950.
McElligot's Pool is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published by Random House in 1947. In the story, a boy named Marco, who first appeared in Geisel's 1937 book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, imagines a wide variety of fantastic fish that could be swimming in the pond in which he is fishing. It later became one of the Seuss books featured in the Broadway musical Seussical where its story is used for the song "It's Possible".
Scrambled Eggs Super! is a 1953 children's book written and illustrated by American children's author Dr. Seuss. The story is told from the point of view of a boy named Peter T. Hooper, who makes scrambled eggs prepared from eggs belonging to various exotic birds.
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss and published by Random House on August 21, 1975. The book is about the many amazing 'thinks' one can think and the endless possibilities and dreams that imagination can create. The book's front cover depicts forty-seven unknown bird-like creatures walking around on a cyan circle.
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! is a children's book credited to Dr. Seuss "with some help from Jack Prelutsky and Lane Smith". The book is based on verses and sketches created by Seuss before his death in 1991, and was expanded to book length and completed by poet Prelutsky and illustrator Smith for publication in 1998.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special, directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. Based on the 1957 children's book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, the special features the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch. It tells the story of the Grinch, who tries to ruin Christmas for the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 American animated adventure comedy film based on the 1954 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, from a screenplay written by the writing team of Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. It stars the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell as Horton the Elephant and Mayor Ned McDodd, respectively, alongside Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, and Amy Poehler. Recurring Blue Sky collaborator John Powell composed the film's musical score. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the book following the 1970 Chuck Jones television special, the 1987 Soviet animated short, and the 1992 Russian animated short.
Horton the Elephant is a fictional character from the 1940 book Horton Hatches the Egg and 1954 book Horton Hears a Who!, both by Dr. Seuss. He is also featured in the short story Horton and the Kwuggerbug, first published for Redbook in 1951 and later rediscovered by Charles D. Cohen and published in the 2014 anthology Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories. In all books and other media, Horton is characterized as a kind, sweet-natured, and naïve elephant who manages to overcome hardships.
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 American animated television special based on the 1954 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 and first broadcast March 19, 1970 on CBS. The special contains songs with lyrics by Seuss and music by Eugene Poddany, who previously wrote songs for Seuss' book, The Cat in the Hat Song Book.
Whoville, sometimes written as Who-ville, is a fictional town created by author Theodor Seuss Geisel, under the name Dr. Seuss. Whoville appeared in the 1954 book Horton Hears a Who! and the 1957 book How the Grinch Stole Christmas! with significant differences between the two renditions. Its denizens go by the collective name Whos, as in a plural form of the pronoun who.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a Christmas children's book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a cranky, solitary creature who attempts to thwart the public's Christmas plans by stealing Christmas gifts and decorations from the homes of the nearby town of Whoville on Christmas Eve. Miraculously, the Grinch realizes that Christmas is not all about money and presents.
Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, published over 60 children's books over the course of his long career. Though most were published under his well-known pseudonym, Dr. Seuss, he also authored a certain amount of books as Theo. LeSieg and one as Rosetta Stone.
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