Horton Hears A Who As Well As Known As Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Is an American 3D Computer animated adventure musical comedy film based on the 1954 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino in their directorial debuts, the film's screenplay was written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and features the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve Carell as Horton the Elephant and Mayor Ned McDodd, respectively, alongside Carol Burnett, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Dan Fogler, Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, and Amy Poehler. John Powell composed the film's musical score. It is the second screen adaptation of the book following the 1970 television special.
The film was released theatrically on March 14, 2008 to positive critical reviews, and grossed $297 million on a budget of $85 million. Horton Hears a Who! was the third Dr. Seuss feature film adaptation, the first adaptation to be fully animated, and the second Dr. Seuss film starring Jim Carrey after How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000).
In the Jungle of Nool, Horton the Elephant, the jungle's eccentric nature teacher, hears a tiny yelp coming from a dust speck. Believing that an entire society of microscopic creatures are living on that speck, he gives chase to it before placing it on top of a flower. Horton finds out the speck harbors the city of Whoville and its inhabitants, the Whos, led by Mayor Ned McDodd, whose family includes his wife Sally, 96 daughters whose names all begin with the letter H, and one teenage son named JoJo. Despite being the oldest child and next in line for the mayoral position, JoJo does not want to be the next mayor, and he does not talk because he is so scared of disappointing his father. Once Horton begins carrying the speck with him, the city starts experiencing strange phenomena (earthquakes and changes in the weather), and the Mayor finds his attempts to caution Whoville challenged by the Town Council, led by the opportunistic yet condescending Chairman.
After he makes contact with Horton, the Mayor finds out from Dr. Mary Lou LaRue that Whoville will be destroyed if Horton does not find a "safer, more stable home". With the help of his best friend Morton the mouse, Horton decides to place the speck atop Mt. Nool, the safest place in the jungle. The head of the jungle, the Sour Kangaroo, who refuses to believe that the Whos exist, demands numerous times that Horton give up the speck for overshadowing her authority, but Horton refuses. Also taking force toward Horton are the Wickersham Brothers, a group of monkeys who like to cause havoc around the jungle. Eventually, the Kangaroo enlists a sinister vulture named Vlad Vladikoff to get rid of the speck by force.
After a few failed attempts, Vlad manages to steal the flower away from Horton and drops it into a massive field of identical pink flowers causing an apocalyptic tremor in Whoville. After unsuccessfully picking 2,999,999 flowers, Horton eventually recovers the flower (exactly the 3,000,000th flower), also revealing himself to the rest of Whoville. The Kangaroo eventually finds out that Horton still has the speck, fires Vlad, and rallies the jungle community into arresting Horton, preying on their fears that their own children will become chaotic delinquents under his influence.
Upon cornering him, the Kangaroo offers Horton a final chance to renounce Whoville's existence. Horton refuses, and despite the heartfelt speech that he gives, the Kangaroo orders the animals to rope and cage him, and to have the speck and Whoville destroyed in a pot of beezlenut oil. The Mayor enlists all of his people to make noise, so that all the animals will find out they're really there, assisted by JoJo's "Symphonophone", an invention which creates a huge musical contribution and reveals that JoJo's "true" passion is music, but still fails to penetrate the surface of the speck.
The Kangaroo snatches the flower from the captured Horton and prepares to drop it into the pot. Meanwhile, JoJo grabs the horn used to project Horton's voice, runs up the highest tower, and screams his first word, breaking through the sound barrier just seconds before the speck hits the oil. Rudy, the Kangaroo's son, grabs the flower and proclaims he hears it, and the other animals of Nool notice that they hear it too. Despite his mother's objections, Rudy returns the flower to the released Horton, while the animals, realizing the truth about the Whos' existence, turn on the Kangaroo for deceiving them. While being praised for his integrity by his neighbors, Horton forgives the devastated and regretful Kangaroo, who befriends him with a makeshift umbrella for Whoville. The film ends with the Whos and the animals of Nool gathering to recite the chorus from "Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon, and it is revealed that the Jungle of Nool (and Earth as a whole) is just one speck, like Whoville, among numerous others, floating in space.
English
Title: Horton Hears a Who!
Release date:
- USA - 3 March 2008 (Hollywood, California) (premiere)
- Canada, USA & Ireland - 14 March 2008
- Australia - 20 March 2008
Albanian
Title: Elefanti Horton dhe njerëzit e vegjël
Release date: 2008
Arabic
Title: هورتن يسمع هووو!
Release date:
- Kuwait - 20 March 2008
- Egypt - 2 April 2008
Danish
Title: Horton og Støvfolket
Release date: March 14, 2008
Dutch
Title: Horton
Release date: 19 March 2008
Finnish
Title: Horton
Release date: March 21, 2008
Translator: Marko Hartama / Mediaplant
Dialogue director: Carla Rindell
Singing director: Ulla Renko
Recording: Tero Pennanen
Production coordinator: Tiina Pölönen
Studio: SC Suomi Sun Studio A/S
Producer: Svend Christiansen / Sun Studio
Mixing: Shelter Digital S.R.L.
| Original | Dubbed | Dubber | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horton
Kangaroo |
Horton
Kenguru |
Antti LJ Pääkkönen | |
| Mayor
Vlad Vladikoff |
Pormestari
Vlad Vladikoff |
Eero Milonoff
Tommi Korpela |
|
| Councilman
Narrator |
Puheenjohtaja
Kertoja |
Taisto Oksanen |
Additional voices
- Elsa Forsberg
- Titta Jokinen
- Pilvi Kekkonen
- Paula Vesala
- Ella Pyhältö
- Pasi Piispanen
- Kari Tamminen
- Mari Riikonen
- Adeliina Sankari
- Antti Matikainen
- Ada Forsberg
- Meeri Toivonen
- Aku Laitinen
- Mika Ala-Panula
- Leena Liimatainen
- Jouko Klemettilä
- Pekka Kuorikoski
- Jarmo Koski
- Oskari Tamminen
- Almiina Sankari
- Pyry Vaismaa
- Ulla Renko
- Helena Valkee
- Markus Bäckman
- Teuvo Matala
- Katja Aakkula
- Jenni Sivonen
- Matti Holi
Brazilian Portuguese
Title: Horton e o Mundo dos Quem
Release date: March 14, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Marco Ribeiro | |
| Ned McDodd | Tom Cavalcante | |
| Morton | Alexandre Moreno | |
| Yummo | Luiz Carlos Persy | |
| Tommy | Paulo Vignolo | |
| Sally O'Malley | Priscila Amorim Sylvia Salustti (Singing) | |
| Vlad Vladikoff | Márcio Simoes | |
| Miss Kangaroo | Canguru | Miriam Ficher |
| Councilman | Vereador | Mauro Ramos |
| Narrator | Narrador | Isaac Bardvid |
Bulgarian
Title: Хортън
Canadian French
Title: Horton entend un qui !
Release date:
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Guilaume Lemay-Thivierge | |
| Ned McDodd | Joel Legendre | |
| Miss Kangaroo | Mme Kangourou | Élizabeth Chouvalidze |
| Vlad Vladikoff | Jean-Luc Montminy | |
| Morton | Hugolin Chevrette | |
| Sally O'Malley | Anne Bédard | |
| Tommy | Nicolas Charbonneaux-Collombet | |
| Councilman | Le president du conseil municipal | Tristan Harvey |
| Jojo | Romy Kraushar-Hébert | |
| Narrator | Le narrateur | Patrick Chouinard |
Cantonese
Title: 大象亞鈍救細界
Release date: 20 March 2008
Castilian Spanish
Title: Horton
Release date: March 14, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Luis Posada | |
| Ned McDodd | Alberto Mieza | |
| Miss Kangaroo | Maria Luisa Sola | |
| Vlad | Miguel Angel Jenner | |
| Morton | Rafael Calvo | |
| Councilman | Presidente | Eduard Farelo |
| Dr. Mary Lou Larue | Dra. Mary Lou Larue | Maria Moscardó |
| Tommy | Jonatan López | |
| Sally O'Malley | Alba Sola | |
| Yummo | Tragon | Domenech Farrell |
| Narrator | Narrador | Joaquín Díaz |
Croatian
Title: Horton
Release date: 27 March 2008
Dub studio: Livada Produkcija
Translator: Dino Brazzoduro
Dub director: Pavlica Bajsić
Vocal director: Nikša Bratoš
Verses translator and vocals: Dino Brazzoduro
Cameraman: Ivor Plužarić
Mixing studio: SYMXSPEED post production
Production supervisor: Denin Serdarević
| Name | Dubber | |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Dubbed | |
| Horton | Krešimir Mikić | |
| Mayor | Načelnik | Filip Juričić |
| Kangaroo | Klokanica | Ksenija Marinković |
| Narrator | Pripovjedač | Sven Medvešek |
| Councilman | Predsjedavajući | Aleksandar Cvjetković |
| Vlad | Vlado | Robert Ugrina |
| Sally | Sajla | Maja Katić |
| Morton | Ozren Grabarić | |
| Dentist | Zubar | |
| Tommy | Ivica | Dražen Bratulić |
| Rudy | Bubi | Marin Arman Grbin |
| Mrs. Quilligan | Gđa. Quilligan | Ivana Bakarić |
| JoJo | Ja-Jo | Dino Jelusić |
| Miss Yelp | Gđa. Yelp | Branka Cvitković |
| Yummo | Mario Tarle | |
| Dr. Larue | Dr. Žužu | Judita Franković |
| Helga | Mara Bajsić | |
| Hanna | Hana | Iva Vučković |
| Holly | Katica | Greta Jurić |
| Hooly | Koraljkica | Ivona Filipović Grčić |
| Hildy | Angelina Grgić |
Additional voices
- Toni Bahat
- Goran Kuretić
- Denin Serdarević
- Nikola Dabac
- Dejan Gotić
- Peđa Bajović
Vocals
- Vladimir Pavelić
- Dragan Brnas
- Mustafa Sofić
- Ivana Čabraja
- Daria Hodnik Marinković
- Jadranka Krištof
Czech
Title: Horton
Release date: 10 April 2008
Estonian
Title: Horton
Release date: 14 March 2008
European French
Title: Horton
Release date: April 2, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Dany Boon | |
| Ned McDodd | Jerome Pauwels | |
| Miss Kangaroo | Mme Kangourou | Annie Milon |
| Vlad Vladikoff | Pascal Casanova | |
| Morton | Richard Darbois | |
| Sally O'Malley | Claire Guybot | |
| Dr. Mary Lou Larue | Professeur Mary Lou Larue | Ariane Aggiage |
| Jojo | Donald Reignoux | |
| Councilman | Le president du conseil municipal | Gerard Surugue |
| Narrator | Le narrateur | Xavier Fagnon |
European Portuguese
Title: Horton e o Mundo dos Quem
Release date: 20 March 2008
Finnish
Title: Horton / Dr. Seussin Horton (DVD title)
Release date: 21 March 2008
German
Title: Horton hört ein Hu!
Release date: March 13, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Christoph Maria Herbst | |
| Mayor of Whoville | Burgermeister von Huheim | Uwe Buschken |
| Dr. Mary Lou Laurue | Victoria Sturm | |
| Sally O'Malley | Frau Burgermeister | Sabrine Arnhold |
| Kangaroo | Anke Engelke | |
| Morton | Bernd Rumpf | |
| Vlad | Klaus Dieter Klebsch | |
| Councilman | Ratvorsitzender | Lutz Schnell |
Greek
Title: Χόρτον
Release date: 10 April 2008
Hebrew
Title: הורטון שומע מישהו
Release date: 10 April 2008
Hungarian
Title: Horton
Release date: 20 March 2008
Icelandic
Title: Horton
Release date: 14 March 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Atli Rafn Sigurðsson | |
| Ned McDodd | Hvervar bæjarstjóir | Þórhallur Sigurðsson |
| Miss Kangaroo | Kengúra | Hanna María Karlsdóttir |
| Vlad Vladikoff | Vlad | Ólafur Darri Ólafsson |
| Sally O'Malley | Frú Hvervar | Jóhanna Vigdís Arnardóttir |
| Morton | Örn Árnason | |
| Tommy | Tommi | Viðir Guðmundsson |
| Dr. Mary Lou Larue | Dr. Lára | Tinna Hrafnsdóttir |
| Narrator | Sögumaður | Arnar Jónsson |
Italian
Title: Ortone e il mondo dei Chi
Release date: April 18, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Ortone | Christian De Sica |
| Ned McDodd | Paolo Conticini | |
| Miss Kangaroo | Cangura | Veronica Pivetti |
| Narrator | Voce Narratore | Carlo Valli |
| Councilman | Cap del Consiglio | Ambrogio Colombo |
| Morton | Mortone | Luigi Ferraro |
| Vlad | Paolo Marchese | |
| Dr. Mary Lou Larue | Prof.ssa Lossa' | Giuppy Izzo |
| Sally O'Malley | Rossella Ruini | |
| Yummo | Mauro Magliozzi | |
| Jojo | Gio'Gio' | Flavio Aquilone |
| Tommy | Alessio Nissolino | |
Additional voices
- Mattia Nissolino
- Domenico Crescentini
- Gianluca Solombrino
- Guido Di Naccio
- Massimiliano Plinio
- Luca Graziani
- Sasha De Toni
- Alessandro Ballico
- Sara Ferranti
- Sara Onorato
- Cristina Piras
- Raffaella Castelli
- Michele D'Anca
- Sasha Barbot
- Fabrizio Picconi
- Gabriele Sabatini
- Francesco De Francesco
- Gianluca Machelli
- Mauro Magliozzi
- Sergio Lucchetti
- Patrizia Burul
- Marco De Risi
- Gaetano Lizzio
- Andrea Lavagnino
- Daniela Di Giusto
- Carlo Scipioni
- Emiliano Pacifico
- Gianfranco Miranda
- Giuliano Santi
- Gabriele Trentalance
- Wladimiro Grana
- Emidio La Vella
- Nicola Braile
- Marco Bassetti
- Tiziana Bagatella
Japanese
Title: ホートン ふしぎな世界のダレダーレ
Release date: 12 July 2008
Latin Spanish
Title: Horton y el mundo de los Quien
Release date: March 14, 2008
| Name | Dubbed | Dubber |
|---|---|---|
| Horton | Rubén Cerda | |
| Ned McDodd | Juan Antonio Edwards | |
| Miss Kangaroo | La Cangura Grunona | Montserrat Ontiveros |
| Councilman | El Presidente | Rogelio Guerra |
| Tommy | Rodrigo Gutiérrez | |
| Vlad Vladikoff | Sebastián Llapur | |
| Sally O'Malley | Jessica Ortiz | |
| Morton | Eduardo Giaccardi | |
| Yummo | Claudio Yarto | |
| Dr. Mary Lou Larue | Dra. Mary Lou Larue | Dulce Guerrero |
| Jojo | Arturo Castañeda |
Latvian
Title: Hortons
Release date: 21 March 2008
Lithuanian
Title: Hortonas
Release date: 21 March 2008
Mandarin (China)
Title: 霍顿与无名氏
Norwegian
Title: Horton redder en Hvem!
Release date: 14 March 2008
Polish
Title: Horton słyszy ktosia!
Release date: 11 April 2008
Romanian
Title: Horton
Release date: 11 April 2008
Russian
Title: Хортон
Release date: 13 March 2008
Serbian
Title: Хортон
Release date: 16 March 2008
Slovak
Title: Horton
Release date:
Slovene
Title: Horton
Swedish
Title: Horton
Taiwanese Mandarin
Title: 荷頓奇遇記
Turkish
Title: Horton
Release date: 18 April 2008
Ukranian
Title: Хортон
Release date: 13 March 2008