Horton hears a ho-hum

The third Dr. Seuss book to be turned into a feature-length film, “Horton Hears a Who!” is the most enjoyable to date. But to be fair, Jim Carrey’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Mike Myers’ “The Cat in the Hat” didn’t exactly set the bar too high.

While the movie is too long — 88 minutes to tell the story in a 70-page picture book — it succeeds in creating a beautifully believable world for the story to unfold. Since aforementioned Seuss box-office flops tried and failed to create Seuss’ worlds with live-action stages and sets, an animated feature is a natural step for the Seuss brand to take. It would be great to see Pixar tackle a Seuss title someday.

The film opens with Horton (voiced by Carrey) stumbling upon an entire world living on a speck of dust. Armed with the mantra “a person’s a person no matter how small,” Horton makes it his mission to protect the inhabitants of the speck; a town called Who-ville, while other animals in the Jungle of Nool ridicule and even persecute the poor elephant. Carol Burnett’s role as the kangaroo leader of the witch hunt is the best performance of the ensemble cast.

Steve Carrell, the mayor of Who-ville, and Carrey turn in solid performances as well, despite inhabiting different worlds. The rest of the cast is mostly forgettable, though it was fun trying to decipher what famous actor was voicing what character whenever the plot began to drag. Unlike other kids’ movies such as “Shrek,” there is virtually no humor aimed at the adults who accompany their children to see the movie. Horton’s best friend Morton (voiced by noted cannabis lover Seth Rogen) makes a reference to cooking brownies; too bad it wasn’t funny.

Based on laughter alone, the children in the theater liked “Horton” about as much as they liked all the trailers before the film. With a built-in audience like Dr. Seuss readers, directors Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino can simultaneously make a mediocre movie and a profit.

Skip the movie and reread the book.