Morality plays are at the center of all of Dr. Seuss‘ limerick-like tales of humanoid creatures in various fantastical settings. These morals are usually either universally accepted ideals that transcend most (if not all) political, religious and cultural boundaries, or are subtly conveyed through whimsical stories filled with colorful characters. The Lorax, however, has a clear environmental message that is made all the more apparent by its namesake, a grumpy little orange creature voiced by Danny DeVito whose existence is based solely on protecting the forest.

That message is made even more colorfully clear in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, which brings the story to life in computer animated 3-D. As has been done with previous Dr. Seuss adaptations, The Lorax is fluffed up with some back story explaining that Ted’s (Zac Efron) motivation for finding a real tree is to impress Audrey (Taylor Swift), the nature-loving hottie he’s pining for. But in Thneedville, where everything is plastic and a Napoleonic business man (Rob Riggle) has built an empire on bottled air sales, there is no nature.

At the urging of his Grammy Norma (Betty White), Ted sets out to find the Once-ler (Ed Helms), the only one who can tell him where to find a real tree. In much the same way the Grinch lives outside of Whoville’s society, the Once-ler is a hermit who lives in a boarded up mansion in the gloomy area outside of town. This recluse recounts the story of a young entrepreneur who set out to impress his oppressive hillbilly family by  mass producing the Thneed, a sweater-like garment that can actually be used for just about anything.

Made from the foliage of the forest’s Truffula Trees, which grows in spirals of flowing hair-like tufts in cotton candy pink and other pastels, the Thneed soon becomes the need of the nearby townspeople.  After initially cutting down a Truffula (the very act that summons the Lorax), the young man agrees to harvest the tufts of trees rather than continue chopping them down. But at the urging of his fickle family, he breaks this promise in order to keep up with supply and demand.

This simple act of defiance snowballs into typical human greed until there are no more trees in the forest, obviously leading to the present-day phoniness of Thneedville. When business ceases to blossom, his family deserts him (again) and the cute little forest creatures are forced to follow their Trail of Tears-like fate to a new forest, the young inventor watches the Lorax float away in disappointment and  is left alone in his big fancy house. Lesson learned the hard way, but there’s still room for redemption.

Luckily for Ted, the Once-ler has the last remaining Truffula seed. Though he’s initially hesitant about letting it go (especially after realizing that Ted’s biggest motivation is impressing a girl), the Once-ler finally gives Ted the seed, with instructions for him to plant the seed in the center of Thneedville. But O’Hare, who has been very Big Brother-like in his attempts to prevent his bottled air-buying townspeople from finding out that real trees create fresh air, has different plans.

Watching Ted race around on the oversized tire of his motorized unicycle thing while avoiding O’Hare’s goons is a lot of fun, and makes great use of the 3-D technology, which actually feels like part of the movie rather than something thrown in for added effect. Though much of Seuss’ magic is lost when all this extra stuff is added to his original story just to make it long enough to be a feature film, Illumination Entertainment (who also made Despicable Me and Hop) still does a great job of nurturing the whimsy and wonder of Seuss. And though most of the dialogue is not in Seuss’ signature rhyme, much of the story is told through musical numbers in which woodland creatures, fish, humanoids and other beings jovially convey pivotal plot points.

The Lorax‘s  ecological urgings are a bit heavy handed at times, which has already drawn criticism from some. But as the Lorax himself states, “A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.” Take such advice with an open mind and you’re likely not to lean too far in either direction. Somehow I think Seuss would be happy to know his message is still being spread, especially since this movie is being released on the 108th anniversary of his birth.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda. Starring Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Betty White and Jenny Slate. Rated PG. www.theloraxmovie.com.

Review by Jonathan Williams