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Like &subscribe 🙏👍🥳💖The Lorax (also known as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax) is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated musical comedy film directed by Chris Renaud, co-directed by Kyle Balda (in his feature directorial debut), and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, from a screenplay written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Paul and Dario also served as executive producers alongside Dr. Seuss' widow Audrey Geisel. The second screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' 1971 children's book of the same name following the 1972 animated television special, it was produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The Lorax stars the voices of Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle, Jenny Slate, and Betty White.[4] It builds on the book by expanding the story of the Lorax and Ted, the previously unnamed boy who visits the Once-ler.

The Lorax
Lorax teaser poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Chris Renaud
Screenplay by
Cinco Paul
Ken Daurio
Based on
The Lorax
by Dr. Seuss
Produced by
Chris Meledandri
Janet Healy
Starring
Danny DeVito
Ed Helms
Zac Efron
Taylor Swift
Rob Riggle
Jenny Slate
Betty White
Edited by
Steven Liu
Claire Dodgson
Ken Schretzmann
Music by
John Powell (score and songs)[1]
Cinco Paul (songs)
Production
company
Illumination Entertainment
Distributed by
Universal Pictures
Release dates
February 19, 2012 (Universal Studios Hollywood)
March 2, 2012 (United States)
Running time
86 minutes[2]
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$70.8 million[3]
Box office
$349 million[3]
The Lorax had its world premiere at Universal Studios in Hollywood on February 19, 2012, and was theatrically released in the United States by Universal Pictures on March 2. It received mixed reviews from critics who praised its animation, musical score, and voice acting but criticized its characters and story. It also received backlash for its marketing, noting its contradictions to the book's message. The film grossed $349 million worldwide on a $70 million budget.[3]

Plot

Cast

Production

Release

Reception

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Lorax holds an approval rating of 54% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax is cute and funny enough but the moral simplicity of the book gets lost with the zany Hollywood production values."[28] On Metacritic, the film achieved a score of 46 out of 100 based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[30]

New York magazine film critic David Edelstein on NPR's All Things Considered strongly objected to the film, arguing that the Hollywood animation and writing formulas washed out the spirit of the book.[31] He wrote that this kind of animated feature was wrong for the source material. Demonstrating how the book's text was used in the film in this excerpt from the review, Edelstein discusses Audrey describing the truffula trees to Ted:

The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk and they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk – and [in the movie] Ted says, "Wow, what does that even mean?" and Audrey says, "I know, right?" So one of the only lines that is from the book, that does have Dr. Seuss' sublime whimsy, is basically made fun of, or at least, dragged down to Earth.
The film also garnered some positive reviews from critics such as Richard Roeper, who called it a "solid piece of family entertainment".[32] Roger Moore of the Pittsburgh Tribune called the film "a feast of bright, Seuss colors, and wonderful Seuss design", and supported its environmentalist message.[33]

Box office
The film grossed $214.4 million in North America, and $134.8 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $349.2 million.[3]

The film topped the North American box office with $17.5 million on its opening day (Friday, March 2, 2012).[34] During the weekend, it grossed $70.2 million, easily beating the other new nationwide release, Project X ($21 million), and all other films.[35] This was the biggest opening for an Illumination Entertainment film,[36] and for a feature film adaptation of a book by Dr. Seuss,[37] as well as the second-largest for an environmentalist film.[38] It also scored the third-best debut for a film opening in March,[39] and the eighth-best of all time for an animated film.[40] The Lorax stayed at No. 1 the following weekend, dropping 45% to $38.8 million and beating all new nationwide releases, including Disney's John Carter (second place).[41]

On April 11, 2012, it became the first animated film in nearly a year to gross more than $200 million in North America, since Walt Disney Animation Studios' Tangled.[42][43]