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Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (Movie)

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Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (Movie) Horton Hears A Who! Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (Movie) A term paper Submitted on the E.T. Yuchengco School of Business and Management MAPUA – ETYSBM Makati City In Partial Fulfillment Of the Course Requirements in INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY HUM14 Submitted by: Llaguno, Diane Celina S. Submitted to: Dr. Reynaldo A. Padilla June 2014 HUM14 Page 1 Horton Hears A Who! Acknowledgement With hard work, perseverance, and sheer luck I was able to finish this term paper; although, I wouldn’t be able to finish my work without the help of various people. Without their help, I might be suffering now or I’ve been spending a whole night finishing my work. So I would like to extend my gratitude to them for spending their time to help me. I’m thankful to my understanding parents and big brothers for their whole support to my studies and for encouraging me to do my very best in everything that I need to do. I would like to express my gratitude to my professor, Sir Padilla, for without him I don’t think that I would know how to do this term paper and I won’t be able to understand Philosophy nor would I know what a philosophy is if he didn’t explained it all to us. So, thank you sir for your help and explanations. I am also indebted to my peers and accounting friend, Chavin Arcilla for telling me the format of the term paper and how should I do it. Without them I wouldn’t be able to finish my work. It’s not like I didn’t copy the format, I just don’t know how to start, so thank you so much guys. Lastly, with extreme prayers, God has heard me and gave me strength and remove my laziness for me to be able to finish my work. HUM14 Page 2 Horton Hears A Who! Table of Contents Page Title Page………………………………………………………………………………………….1 Acknowledgement………………………………………………………………………………...2 Historical background Introduction to the movie…………………………………………………………………..4 All about Dr. Seuss…………………………………………………………………………4 Educational background of Dr. Seuss……………………………………………………...5 Dr. Seuss’ Career…………………………………………………………………………...5 Merits of Dr. Seuss…………………………………………………………………………6 All about the book………………………………………………………………………….6 All about the movie………………………………………………………………………...6 Influence……………………………………………………………………………………6 Philosophical Content the movie………………………………………………………………….7 Philosophy that I learned from the movie…………………………………………………………8 References…………………………………………………………………………………………9 HUM14 Page 3 Horton Hears A Who! HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Introduction to the movie Horton hears a Who! is also known as Dr. Seuss’ Horton hears a Who! It is a 2008 film based on the children’s story book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss which has the same title as well. The film was directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino. The screenplay writers of the story were Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul. The characters of the story were dubbed by famous actors and actresses in the Hollywood such as Charles Osgood who narrates the story and Jim Carrey, the voice behind Horton the Elephant. There is also Steve Carell, the voice actor of Ned McDodd, the Figure 1 Horton Hears a Who! (Film) mayor of Who-ville. Carol Brunett, the voice actress for the sour kangaroo in the story. Josh Flitter is also present. He is the voice actor for Rudy Kangaroo. Will Arnett was the voice actor behind Vlad Valadikoff. Dan Fogler is present as well, as well as Jesse Mccartney, Seth Roger, Amy Poehler, and many more Hollywood actors and actresses. The film was released in March 14, 2008. This is the only movie adaptation of Dr. Suess’ works that is not distributed by Universal and this is only fully animated film of Dr’ Seuss’ stories. In addition to that, this is the only film (Dr. Seuss film) that receives a G rating from MPAA. Dr. Suess’ face also appeared the film as one of Jojo’s great grandfather. All about Dr. Seuss Theodore Seuss Geisel was the original name of Dr. Suess. He was born on 1904 in Howard Street of Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Theodore Robert, and grandfather were both brew master in the city. His mother, Henrietta Seuss Geisel often chants rhyme to him and his sister when they are about to sleep. Dr. Seuss’ grandparents were both German immigrants. Their family, based form what I read, was somehow rich. However, the onset of World War II and Prohibition presented both financial and social challenge to their family. Nevertheless, the HUM14 Page 4 Horton Hears A Who! family persevered and prospered, providing Dr. Seuss and his sister, Marnie with happy childhood which is reflected to Dr. Seuss’ works. Educational background of Dr. Seuss When Dr. Seuss became a teenager, he left Springfield to attend Dartmouth College where he becomes the editor-in-chief of the school’s humor magazine, Jack O’Lantern. However, after throwing a drinking party, which is against the prohibition law and school policy, he was removed as the editor-in-chief. Although, it didn’t stop him to contribute to the magazine, signing his works “Seuss”. This is Dr. Seuss’ middle name and his mother’s maiden name. Since his father wants him to become a college professor, he entered Oxford University in England after Figure 2 Meet Theodor Seuss Geisel his graduation, intending to earn a PhD in English literature. This is where he met Helen Palmer. She is a children’s book author and book editor. She is also DR. Seuss’ first wife and the one who encourage him to give up becoming an English teacher in favor of pursuing drawing as a career. Dr. Seuss’ Career Dr. Seuss’ got bored with his studies at Oxford and decided to tour England instead. Upon returning to the United States, he pursued a career as a cartoonist. As World War II approached his focus shifted and he began contributing weekly political cartoons to PM magazine. He also serves with Frank Capra’s Signal Corps (US Army) making training movies. This is also where he learned the art of animation and developed a series of animated training films featuring a trainee called Private Safu. After that, he started to publish different stories to different magazines. He then became a definitive children’s book author and illustrator after his work, The Cat in the Hat, was published. After World War II, Dr. Seuss and his wife, Helen, moved to La Jolla, California and he returned to children’s books. He wrote a lot of children’s story book. One of the stories that he wrote and illustrated was Horton Hears a Who! (1954). HUM14 Page 5 Horton Hears A Who! Merits of Dr. Seuss At the time of his death, Dr. Seuss had written and illustrated 46 children’s books which are often characterized by imaginative characters, rhymes, and frequent use of anapestic meter. His books had been translated into more than 15 languages. His works have spawned numerous adaptations, including eleven television specials, four feature films, a Broadway musical, and four television adaptations. Figure 3 One of the famous works of Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat All about the book Horton hears a who! was a book written and illustrated by Theodore Seuss Geisel. It was published in 1954. Dr. Seuss began working on the book in the spring of 1953. Dr. Seuss, who has a strong anti-Japan sentiments before and during World War II changed his view dramatically after the war during and his book, Horton Hears a Who! as an allegory for the American post-war occupation of the country. He also dedicated the book to a Japanese friend. All about the movie The main theme of the movie, “a person is a person no matter how small”, was Dr. Seuss’ reaction to his visit to Japan, where the importance of the individual was an exciting new concept. The story also contains a strong moral message. The lines of the mayor of Who-ville in the movie, “When the black-bottomed birdie let go and we dropped, we landed so hard that our clocks have all stopped,” is a reference to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Influence The recurring phrase of Horton the Elephant, “A person’s a person no matter how small”, found its way to the center of the recurring debate in the United States over abortion. Several pro-life groups have adopted the phrase in support of their views. HUM14 Page 6 Horton Hears A Who! Philosophical Content of the Movie A person’s a person no matter how small This is the recurring phrase of Horton the Elephant the main character in the film. It means that no matter how small you see a person, or how unimportant are them for you, they are still a person. A person that is somewhat similar to you. Come on guys, we’re all mammals This was what Horton the Elephant said to the monkeys that are attacking with bananas. As we all know, humans are considered as mammals. Dr. Seuss use this to convey his message to us that we are all of the same species, that we are all mammals, so we shouldn’t attack each other. Rather, we should all get along for we are of the same species. There’s no easy path towards your goal When Horton found out about Who-ville, he decided to take the speck of dust (this is where Who-ville can be found) to the top of Mount Nool. He was really optimistic about it. His phrase in the movie, “All right got to get this speck up to the top of Mount Nool. A.S.A.P, whatever that means.
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