The cash-in factor with an animated screen adaptation of "Horton Hears a Who!" is so obvious the movie should have been called "Horton Hears a Ka-Ching!" What better way to guarantee the mass-swiping of plastic across America than to put not one, but two, of Jerry Lewis' illegitimate children in one kid's movie. The problem is that there isn't room in all of Hollywood for both Jim Carrey AND Jim Carrey's slightly less obnoxious little brother, Steve Carell, much less than in one movie. Plus as an added bonus, we get another long-time veteran irritant of movies and T.V. However, the one redeeming factor about having a resurrected Carol Burnett (maybe that's why this movie was released at Easter) co-starring is that this is a CG animated show, so we aren't subjected to the jaw-dropping experience of viewing a plastic surgery-induced face that only a head-shrinking cannibal could love.

Despite Dr. Seuss' books being promoted as progressive on all-things-children, the adaptation has a couple of disturbing elements. One is that the mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell) isn't an elected leader. The position is passed from father to son, over generations, the way the jug-headed Prince of Wales is expected to take over from his weened-on-a-pickle mother after she finally gets run over by Prince Phillip's Land Rover. Interesting, too, is that even though the mayor has 96 daughters, none of those fine biyatches is considered as good as the mayor's one sullen, anti-social, mute son. Another illiberal element added to the movie by the filmmakers is that the one truly evil character in the entire movie is also the only one with a foreign accent. But, of course, I suppose it is important to teach our children that foreigners are evil. Also, the character, Vlad the vulture, (Will Arnett) seems to be a vulture-of-the-world as one minute he sounds Eastern European, the next, Hispanic, and after that, Irish.

Curiously, Pro-Lifers have adopted this film, even attempting to have "teaching moments" (typically involving screaming) with filmgoers at theaters. Apparently, to them, the message of the movie is that: "A person's a person, no matter how small," so you fuckers better outlaw abortion or we'll kill you. I guess you see what you want to see, though, since the two most obviously conservative characters in the movie are antagonists. One, the raving bitch kangaroo (Carol Burnett), is "pouch-schooling" her emotionally abused child and practically goes rabid trying to crush the free-spirited elephant, Horton, including forming a lynch mob. Two, the Councilman (Dan Fogler), who assures the townsfolk, intimidatingly, that everything is okay, even as Whoville is collapsing. He shouldn't worry, though. There is always a job waiting for him in Baghdadville.

The animation is state-of-the-art, and effective enough to make three-year-olds hallucinate. The writing, however, has the now-stale sound of the cute story peppered with adult asides that peaked with "Shrek" and now has all the kick of the latest David Spade sitcom. My advice to parents? Buy your kid the book.

--Oddball