"I gotta tell you something — this is a lot better than the movie."

March 7, 2012 9:25 AM

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber reads The Lorax (SLYT)
posted by OverlappingElvis (10 comments total)

Just for interest's sake: here's a friend of mine reading The Lorax, his own translation into Pulo-Fuuta, for Peace Corps radio in Senegal.
posted by tkfu at 9:36 AM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also enjoyable: British comedian Rik Mayall's boisterous audiobook rendition (with illustrations!), which manages to capture all the whimsy and tragedy of the tale in one go.

(And I've got to say, one of the biggest sins of the new movie is that Seuss's lyrics make just one cameo... that is then flippantly mocked:

Early on, a character not in the book, Audrey, voiced by Taylor Swift, tells lovelorn 12-year-old Ted, voiced by Zac Efron, that once, nearby their now paved-over town, there were truffula trees: “The touch of their tufts was much softer than silk, and they had the sweet smell of fresh butterfly milk” — and Ted says, “Wow, what does that even mean?” and Audrey says, “I know, right?”

posted by Rhaomi at 10:29 AM on March 7, 2012

I love my governor!
posted by kfkcam at 11:00 AM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Man is adorable
posted by MangyCarface at 11:18 AM on March 7, 2012

I can't tell if it's the editing or if he didn't finish the book.
posted by floam at 11:27 AM on March 7, 2012

Beats the living shit out of My Pet Goat, doesn't it?
posted by Danf at 1:56 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

If you like the book, avoid the movie at all costs. Some of the worst music I've ever heard, Admittedly, I don't like Disney musicals but this is worse than anything Disneys ever done. They also added a bunch of unneeded plot stupidity to pad out what rightfully should have taken about 15 minutes.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:06 PM on March 7, 2012

The Lorax seems like it a prime candidate for a fan recut. Just leave in the bits from the book while taking out everything else, and you've got a nearly perfect, beautifully-animated Seuss adaptation.
posted by Green Winnebago at 3:37 PM on March 7, 2012

I got to introduce Gov. Kitzhaber during his governor hiatus when he gave a talk at Oregon State University (go Beavs). I went out to meet him before the talk and he was perfectly charming; this was during the Bush era, so everyone was wearing flags on their lapels - his was a little Earth. He'd forgotten something in his car so we walked back toward the parking lot and he approached a kind of beat-up Ford Explorer. Someone had keyed "no war for oil" in the side. I asked him about it and he said "yeah, someone did it when we attacked Iraq. I agreed so I left it there."

Good governor.
posted by blueberry sushi at 6:02 PM on March 7, 2012 [4 favorites]

kfkcam, I second your motion - my governor is wonderful and adorable....
posted by pdxjmorris at 10:34 PM on March 10, 2012