In a year that has seen one of the worst man-made ecological disasters to blight the planet, the environmentally friendly message of Dr Seuss' The Lorax is one that bears repeating. So the team behind Horton Hears a Who has decided to hire someone who doesn’t mind being heard: Danny DeVito.
The Lorax movie has been in development for a while now at Illumination, with a script from Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, who are also set to direct alongside Despicable Me’s Chris Renaud.
Seuss’ story finds The Lorax, “who speaks for the trees” bemoaning the loss of his forest, as his literally gives a stump speech. The main villain is the Once-ler, a greedy sort who destroys the plants to create his Thneeds, a mystery product everyone is desperate to get their hands on. He’ll be voiced by The Hangover’s Ed Helms. Zac Efron has been recruited to voice the hero of the piece, Ted, a boy who wants to track down the Once-ler to have him explain what went wrong with the world.
And the film will create extra characters, in the shape of Audrey, the girl Ted has fallen for, and who dreams of one day seeing the forest restored. Daily Show veteran and Other Guys actor Rob Riggle has signed on as O’Hare, a corporate huckster who sells fresh air to the Once-ler’s race. Plus finally, because no film or TV show can seemingly be complete without finding room for her these days, Betty White will voice Efron’s grandmother, who remembers what the world used to look like.
"Danny has this wonderful ability to be acerbic and grouchy but at the same time absolutely lovable," Illumination boss Chris Meledandri says. "It's almost like Walter Matthau had. His comedic edge was very sharp, but he always maintained that warmth."
And DeVito appears to be looking forward to bringing the message out in the film… "I feel sometimes the only way to get things done is shake people up a little bit, and the Lorax is not a guy who pussyfoots around. He's not a guy who uses kid gloves.” Just stay away from the Limoncello in the recording studio, eh, Danny?
**The Lorax **will arrive in March 2012.