I discovered that our The Grinch Who Stole Christmas animated DVD (the True Grinch rendition) also has Horton Hears a Who on it. Since this is one of Kitten’s current favorites (as a book) we watched it this evening.
The producer of the 1969 show was Chuck Jones, and it shows in the animation. Hans Conried does narrates in his inimitable style, with June Foray doing the few female voices, and Jones himself picking up Horton and others. The music — book by Seuss himself, who also did the teleplay — feels a bit dated, but is still fun (and memorable, esp. the Wickersham Bros. tunes). Padding out the story works okay, but it definitely feels like padding, somewhat muddling the core tale of Horton’s loyalty, that “a person is a person, no matter how small.”
The animation is a bit cheap, but Jones and Seuss’s styles are strangely compatible. Make of tha twhat you will.
When all was said and done, I turned to Katherine. “So, do you like the cartoon, or do you like the book better?”
“That one is the cartoon and that one is the book.” She said this finality.
“Do you like the voices in the cartoon,” I probed further, “or the voices Daddy does in the book?”
“I like the voices in the cartoon and the voices Daddy does in the book.”
Probably the only time I’ll ever get compared favorably to voice artists like that.
Eaugh! You had to remind me of the Wickersham Brothers! That song gives me the heebie-jeebies!
So does “Pink Elephants on Parade,” though, so make of that what you will.
Brrr.
The Grinch from the cartoon is scary.
Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary.
[shivers]