Horton Hears a Who!

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Horton Hears a Who!
Written by: Dr. Seuss
Central Theme:
Synopsis: Exactly What It Says on the Tin
Genre(s): Children's poetry
First published: August 12, 1954
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"A person's a person, no matter how small."

Horton Hears a Who! is a 1954 children's book by Dr. Seuss, adapted into a 1970 animated special by MGM Animation/Visual Arts (the studio responsible for the classic animated adaptation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and a 2008 animated film from Blue Sky Studios (the creators of Ice Age). The book's plot also makes up a sizable part of the plot of the stage musical Seussical. It was dedicated to a Japanese friend, Mitsugi Nakamura.

Rare for Seuss, this book is a sequel (to Horton Hatches The Egg).

Tropes used in Horton Hears a Who! include:
  • Adaptation Expansion: The movie.
  • Art Shift: Happens twice in the movie. The first time is a 2D animated sequence drawn completely in Seuss' distinctive style. The other is an Animesque action sequence/daydream.
  • Ascended Extra: Jojo in both the movie and Seussical.
  • Awesome McCoolname: Vlad Vladikoff. You know it's true.
  • Bits of Me Keep Passing Out: In the movie, the Mayor is at the dentist when an earthquake (caused by the speck the Whos all inhabit moving) occurs, and the Novocaine needle ends up in his arm, which remains limp and useless for some time afterward.
  • Brick Joke: The other Vlad in the movie.
    • And Burt from accounting makes an appearance.
    • On the rope bridge, Horton thinks that inhaling deeply will make him lighter. Near the end Katie inhales deeply... and floats away.
  • The Cameo: The Grinch! In the 1970s TV version he makes a cameo in the Who chorus near the end.
    • And the modern version: Watch the new version of the "We Are Here" chorus - if that's not the Grinch playing that tiny set of pan pipes, he's one heck of a doppelganger.
    • He also makes a cameo in Seussical.
  • Cassandra Truth: Horton's practically the Trope Codifier for people who read this book as a child.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Katie, in the movie.
    • Also in the movie, Horton himself.
    • Subverted in the book and in Seussical because everyone in the Jungle of Nool thinks that Horton is a tad off his rocker for hearing a Who.
    • Just the sheer fact that Horton is voiced by Jim Carrey in the film qualifies him for this.
  • Continuity Nod: Horton's catchphrase in the movie was, of course, imported from Horton Hatches the Egg.
  • Creepy Child: Katie in the movie. "Aaah..."
  • Crowd Song: The end of the movie.
  • Defeat Means Friendship
  • Determinator: Horton. Sour kangaroos, weak bridges, open valleys, villainous vultures, flat cliffs, snowy mountain tops, losing the speck amongst miles of similar-looking clovers, and mobs of animals trying to rope and cage him, will. Not. Make. Him. Stop. Physically or emotionally - despite people telling him to stop believing in the Whos, Horton doesn't stop.
    • An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Sour Kangaroo is the queen of this.
  • Dying Like Animals: In the film, Whoville is filled with bats.
  • Easily Forgiven: All the "villains".
  • Emo Teen: Jojo.
  • Genre Savvy: In the film, while Horton is escaping Vlad the vulture, he briefly loses him and predicts that said vulture will pop out of nowhere eventually. Guess who's right behind Horton as he says this.
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: In the film. "Ninety-six daughters and one son." "Busy man..."
  • Groin Attack: In the film, the mayor gets wedged between a door as several large objects strike him in the crotch.
  • Happily Ever After
  • Here We Go Again: The ending to the animated special.
  • Honorable Elephant: Horton, obviously, for the second time.
  • Hypocritical Humor: "How could he call me a boob? I would never call anyone a boob. HE'S the boob!"
  • Ignored Expert: The Mayor of Whoville in The Movie.
  • I Love the Smell of X In the Morning: In the 2008 film version:

Horton: I love the smell of bananas in the morning!

"Don't panic... Whoever built this bridge obviously took into account that elephants will be crossing it."

Kangaroo: If the children hear stories about worlds beyond the jungle, they'll start to question authority! Which leads to defiance, which lead to ANARCHY!