In the walled town of Thneedville, where everything from the plants to the air around the inhabitants is synthetic, youngster Ted Wiggins (voiced bt Zac Efron) is in love with his next-door neighbour Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift). So, when he discovers that she dreams of seeing a 'real' tree, he skips town to try to find one.
Reaching a desolate wasteland outside the walls, he encounters the foreboding Once-ler (voiced by Ed Helms), who tells a tale of how, in a beautiful forest, he met the Lorax (voiced by Danny DeVito): a squat, moustachioed creature that speaks for the trees, as they can't speak for themselves. Ted listens on in wonderment as The Once-ler's story explains why no trees remain in Thneedville, and learns a lesson that could change the future of the town forever.
While its pristine appearance may slightly jar with the story's central message, Dr Seuss's barely masked ecological lesson is beautifully animated and technically impressive, mainly thanks to the solid hands of a directing team including Despicable Me creator Chris Renaud.
The brilliant personality in DeVito's broad New Jersey tones goes some way to lifting the feature above previous Seuss adaptations like Horton Hears a Who?, backed up by fantastic off-the-wall panoramas that pay wondrous tribute to the visionary genius of the author himself.
Dr. Seuss' the Lorax is a Film programme that first aired in 2012 and has been classified a U certificate.
