The Lorax (film)

The Lorax
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Chris Renaud
Produced by	Janet Healy Chris Meledandri
Screenplay by	Cinco Paul Ken Daurio
Based on	The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Starring	Danny DeVito Ed Helms Zac Efron Taylor Swift Betty White Rob Riggle Jenny Slate
Music by	John Powell Songs: John Powell Cinco Paul
Edited by	Claire Dodgson Steven Liu Ken Schretzmann
Production company	Illumination Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	March 2, 2012 (2012-03-02) (United States)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Box office	$348.8 million

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax: Original Songs from the Motion Picture
Film score by John Powell and Cinco Paul
Released	February 28, 2012
Genre	Soundtrack
Length	34:00
Label	Interscope

The Lorax (also known as Dr. Seuss' The Lorax) is a 2012 American computer-animated 3D musical fantasy-comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and based on Dr. Seuss's children's book of the same name. The film was released by Universal Pictures on March 2, 2012, on the 108th birthday of Dr. Seuss. The second film adaptation of the book (following the 1972 animated television special), the film builds on the book by expanding the story of Ted, the previously unnamed boy who visits the Once-ler. The cast includes Danny DeVito as the Lorax, Ed Helms as the Once-ler, and Zac Efron as Ted. New characters introduced in the film are Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), Mr. Aloysius O'Hare (Rob Riggle), Mrs. Wiggins, Ted's mother (Jenny Slate), and Grammy Norma (Betty White).

The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $214 million domestically and $348.8 million worldwide based on a $70 million budget.

Ted Wiggins is an idealistic boy, who lives in "Thneedville", a walled city that, aside from the human citizens, is completely artificial; everything is made of plastic, metal, or synthetics with no living plants. Ted has a crush on local environmentalist Audrey, who wants to see a "real tree" more than anything in the world, and decides to find one in order to impress her. His energetic Grammy Norma secretly tells Ted the legend of the Once-ler, who will tell anyone about trees if they brought him fifteen cents, a nail, and a shell of a great-great-great grandfather snail. When Ted leaves Thneedville in search of the Once-ler, he discovers that the outside world is a contaminated, empty, barren wasteland. Once the boy finds him, the Once-ler agrees to tell Ted about the trees on the condition that he listens to the story over multiple visits. Ted agrees, but on his way home, he encounters the mayor of Thneedville, Mr. Aloysius O'Hare, who is also the proprietor of a company that sells bottled oxygen to Thneedville residents. O'Hare explains to Ted that because trees produce oxygen free of charge, he considers it a threat to his business whenever he hears people talking about them. After revealing that he has "security camera eyes" all over the city, O'Hare pressures Ted to stay in town. However, Ted continues to sneak out of O'Hare's sight (with his grandmother's encouragement) and learns more of the trees' history.