Twentieth Century Fox has unloaded a whole whack of posters onto an unsuspecting Interweb to promote its upcoming animated film Horton Hears a Who, which you can check out at the International Movie Poster Awards website. The film is adapted (how loosely remains to be seen) from the classic children's book by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel.
The flick stars the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell.
Horton Hears a Who Character One-Sheets
The character posters all follow a similar pattern: they show the character's name, followed by the tagline "-- than (he/she) --" The one-sheets depict various personalities from the flick, including the titular Horton (Carrey), the Mayor of Whoville (Carell), the indeterminate furry creature Morton, villainous vulture Vlad (Ian McShane), the bitchy Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) and the emo-haired JoJo Who.
To top it all off, there are two horizontal broadsheets: "The Good" featuring a smirking Horton, Morton and the various Whos, plus "The Bad and the Ugly" showcasing Vlad, Kangaroo and a pair of sinister looking monkeys. These taglines makes perfect sense, because everyone knows that kids born in the 1990's regularly watch a certain 1966 spaghetti western starring Clint Eastwood.
Did Fox/Blue Sky Screw Up Horton Hears a Who?
Unfortunately, these posters, along with the previous one-sheets and trailers, seem to underline a growing suspicion: that Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky Animation (the same guys who brought you the Ice Age franchise) have really dropped the ball on this flick.
How can an animated studio mess up a beloved story that's been avidly read by five decades of schoolchildren? Making a bullet-proof property like this into a successful movie should be a walk in the park, right? Right?
Well, sports fans, it's frighteningly easy for Hollyweird to take an otherwise sure thing and turn it into an unwatchable mess. It's when movie executives try to make a script "hip."
Two previous Dr. Seuss adaptations have fallen prey to this malady, which comes from people not knowing when to leave a good thing alone. The 2000 live-action adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which also starred Jim Carrey, was a solid hit but was ripped to shreds by moviegoers and critics alike.
The same was true for the 2003 version of The Cat in the Hat, starring Mike Myers, minus the good box office. Among the film's many detractors was Geisel's widow Audrey, who reportedly hated the flick and Myers' interpretation of the character.
Keeping this in mind, there are two possible scenarios for Horton Hears a Who. The first is that Twentieth Century Fox's advertising department doesn't know its @$$ from its elbow and isn't giving this film the promo that it needs. Fox and Blue/Sky have actually done a stand-out job with Horton Hears a Who, and it will be a pleasant surprise when it hits theatres.
The second scenario is more depressing. Scriptwriters Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul either didn't respect the source material enough or were overridden by meddling studio executives who thought that, because they had a Harvard MBA, that means they knew more about making movies. By fixing what ain't broke, Fox and Blue Sky have ended up breaking it.
Which scenario is the right one? Find out when Horton Hears a Who lumbers into theatres on March 14th.
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