The Lorax (TV 1972)

A ruined industrialist tells his tale of his environmentally self destructive greed despite the warnings of an old forest creature.

Director:

Hawley Pratt

Writer:

Dr. Seuss (teleplay)

Stars:

Eddie Albert, Bob Holt, Athena Lorde

Cast

Cast overview:
Eddie Albert	...	Narrator (voice)
Bob Holt	...	The Lorax / The Once-ler (voice)
Athena Lorde	...	Miss O'Schmunsler (voice)
Harlen Carraher	...	Boy (voice)

Storyline

A young boy goes to meet a ruined industrialist in a treeless wasteland and hear his tale of what happened to him. His tragic story is about how he began a thriving business with a useless fashion product derived from the trees of a forest. As his business booms, the forest and its inhabitants suffer as he wantonly clearcuts without regard to the warnings of a wise old creature called the Lorax about the dire consequences of his greed.

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Plot Keywords:

industrialist | greed | tree | water pollution | dr seuss | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Family

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 February 1972 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Cat in the Hat Productions, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (DFE)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first Dr. Seuss CBS television special to feature the short version of the 1971-1975 Cat in the Hat Productions logo with only the "Cat in the Hat doing tricks" sequence.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: [sung] At the far end of town where the grickle grass grows/and the wind smells slow and sour when it blows/and no birds ever sing, excepting old crows/is the street of the lifted Lorax.

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Connections

Referenced in RiffTrax Live: Reefer Madness (2010)

User Reviews

Speak for the trees!

A Dr Seuss relatively unknown gem. A narrator (never identified) tells a story of how a person discovered a crop that could be used for anything. Soon all the trees where this crop grew were cut down and factories were built along with houses and highways while all the while a creature in the forest gives warning, saying he speaks for the trees. Unfortunately the warning goes unheeded and the wildlife that lives there make a fateful decision. A cautionary tale that was ahead of its time but seems very on point today. It warns us to be careful not to become to obsessed with our needs for consumer items and not to be suckered in by commercialism at expense of nature and the wonderful world around us. A Dr Seuss that should be shown on televison much more often than it is - some Logging companies in the west wanted it banned because of the ecological message - but now it is available to all. A must see and one to watch and discuss with your children. On a scale of one to ten...8