Kangaroo (Burnett) scoffs at Horton's idea. She believes that if you can't see it, hear it or touch it, it doesn't exist. According to Kangaroo, there's no room for this kind of crazy talk in the jungle. It's important to keep the status quo. She warns Horton to keep his ideas to himself and especially not to tell any of the children, who must be protected from this kind of thinking.

But Horton ignores Kangaroo. He makes contact with someone on the speck, who happens to be the mayor of Whoville (Carell), a city full of minuscule people. Horton must convince the mayor that Whoville exists on a speck and is in danger of getting squashed in Horton's world, and he sets out on a journey to place the speck in a safe place.

In the meantime, Kangaroo has learned that Horton hasn't let go of his wild theories. She decides he's a bad influence on the children because his ideas are encouraging them to use their imaginations. Kangaroo does everything within her power to stop Horton and destroy the speck, going so far as to enlist the services of a vampire-like buzzard named Vlad (Arnett).

No matter what obstacles he faces, Horton refuses to give up. He's determined to help all of Whoville, claiming, "A person is a person, no matter how small."

Seuss done right

Kudos to Blue Sky Studios, the company responsible for Ice Age, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Robots. Once again, they've created a movie with heart, compassion and humor. They've also captured the wit, spirit and vision of the great children's author.

Casting Carol Burnett as Kangaroo was a stroke of genius. One of the pioneers of TV comedy, Burnett brings a deft touch to a character who believes she knows what's right not only for herself but for everyone else. Carrey and Carell are equally well cast, as are Seth Rogen (as Horton's tiny rodent buddy, Morton) and Amy Poehler (as the mayor's wife).

It isn't easy to take a very short story written for children and flesh it out into a movie. In this case, the story feels seamless. For example, in Whoville the mayor and his wife have 96 daughters and one son. The mayor assumes his son will someday become mayor himself, because being the mayor is the family business. The problem is, his son has his own dreams, which the mayor can't see because of his own assumptions. The story of the mayor and his son are interwoven flawlessly with Horton's quest to save everyone in Whoville.

The humor ranges widely from appropriate silliness for the youngest viewers to subtle and sly gags that are likely to make adults laugh out loud. The youngest viewers might get restless at times, but most people agree that a movie theater isn't an appropriate place to bring infants and toddlers who aren't able to sit through a feature film.