The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Horton Hears a Who!
Animation · Comedy · Family · 2008
An imaginative elephant named Horton hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Horton suspects there may be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community, who thinks he has lost his mind, he is determined to save the tiny particle.
Movie details
Horton Hears a Who!
“Horton hears more than anyone believes.”
2008 Animation · Comedy · Family 1h 26m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
An imaginative elephant named Horton hears a faint cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air. Horton suspects there may be life on that speck and despite a surrounding community, who thinks he has lost his mind, he is determined to save the tiny particle.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Horton Hears a Who!?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Star
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Animal Crackers
Comedy · 2018
A family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a rundown circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington.
Wonder Park
Comedy · 2019
A young girl named June with a big imagination makes an incredible discovery -- the amusement park of her dreams has come to life. Filled with the world's wildest rides operated by fun-loving animals, the excitement never ends. But when trouble hits, June and her misfit team of furry friends begin an unforgettable journey to save the park.
Ooops! Noah Is Gone...
Animation · 2015
It's the end of the world. A flood is coming. Luckily for Dave and his son Finny, a couple of clumsy Nestrians, an Ark has been built to save all animals. But as it turns out, Nestrians aren't allowed. Sneaking on board with the involuntary help of Hazel and her daughter Leah, two Grymps, they think they're safe. Until the curious kids fall off the Ark. Now Finny and Leah struggle to survive the flood and hungry predators and attempt to reach the top of a mountain, while Dave and Hazel must put aside their differences, turn the Ark around and save their kids. It's definitely not going to be smooth sailing.
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
Animation · 1964
Following a misunderstanding about Yogi Bear’s whereabouts, Cindy Bear ends up in captivity at a Missouri circus. It’s now up to Yogi and his friend, Boo-Boo, to save her.
Babar: The Movie
Adventure · 1989
Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it.
Hitpig!
Animation · 2024
A porcine bounty hunter accepts his next hit: Pickles, a naive, ebullient elephant. Though he initially sets out to capture the perky pachyderm, the unlikely pair find themselves crisscrossing the globe on an adventure that brings out the best in both of them.
The Magician's Elephant
Animation · 2023
Peter is searching for his long-lost sister when he crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square. His only question is: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.
Rio 2
Animation · 2014
It's a jungle out there for Blu, Jewel and their three kids after they're hurtled from Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon. As Blu tries to fit in, he goes beak-to-beak with the vengeful Nigel, and meets the most fearsome adversary of all: his father-in-law.
Open Season
Animation · 2006
Boog, a domesticated 900lb. Grizzly bear finds himself stranded in the woods 3 days before Open Season. Forced to rely on Elliot, a fast-talking mule deer, the two form an unlikely friendship and must quickly rally other forest animals if they are to form a rag-tag army against the hunters.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Steve Martino · Jimmy Hayward
Written by
Ken Daurio · Cinco Paul
Jim Carrey
Horton (voice)
Steve Carell
Mayor (voice)
Carol Burnett
Kangaroo (voice)
Will Arnett
Vlad (voice)
Seth Rogen
Morton (voice)
Dan Fogler
Councilman / Yummo Wickersham (voice)
Isla Fisher
Dr. Mary Lou Larue (voice)
Court is in session
Put Horton Hears a Who! on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.