I’ve been doing a lot of cartoons lately. Can you tell I’ve been spending time with my niece?
I have a history with Horton. As a child, I cried every time (literally) my parents read to me Horton Hatches an Egg. Poor Horton. Maize left him with her egg so she could go on vacation. And Horton sat, and he sat, and he sat. It rained, and it snowed. Still, Horton sat. All his friends left for a party. Still, Horton sat. Poor Horton. All alone.
It broke my heart.
"Will you cry?" my parents asked as we all sat down to watch the movie. I stuck my tongue out at them.
At the beginning of the movie, I had a hard time reconciling my image of Horton with the movie’s. In the movie, Horton was more spacey than my expectations, although he was just as kind and giving.
Horton hears a noise coming from a speck that’s been knocked from its flower. He saves the speck from falling in the river and discovers a whole world, Whoville, existing on this speck. He and the mayor begin conversing. They learn that unless the speck (or world, depending on your perspective), will destruct unless it’s put in a stable environment. Horton takes on the task.
(Let me note here that Steve Carell did an excellent job as the voice of the mayor.)
In the meantime, people in both Horton’s and the mayor’s world think they’re crazy. Who are they talking to? You’re talking to a speck? You’re talking to an elephant in the sky? Craziness!
The story revolves around the question(s) of belief. What does it mean to believe? What does it mean to act on that belief? What is the importance of that belief and what happens when you don’t believe? How does that belief (and forgiveness when others treat you poorly for believing) change others?
I love Horton’s motto (one I remember well from Horton Hatches an Egg): I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one-hundred percent.
And, yes, I cried when Horton stood firm in his belief, roped up and laughed at though he was. What is it about that elephant that draws tears?
