I was starting to think that maybe I had outgrown the animated movies. Maybe I was getting too uptight to enjoy a good kid flick. The last few children’s movies we we went to were “ok” but I wasn’t overjoyed.

But then we saw Horton Hears a Who. And it restored my faith in animated movies. I realized I still am a kid at heart. I loved this movie. The animation was great. Jim Carrey was spectacular as Horton. Steve Carell was amazing as the Mayor of Whoville. The whole cast was really good.

If you are unfamilar with the book, Horton Hears a Who is a Dr. Suess book about an elephant (Horton) who finds a speck floating through the air. He can hear screaming from the speck and realizes somebody is living in that speck. Only it’s not just somebody, it’s a whole town; Whoville. Horton and the Mayor of Whoville strike up a friendship as Horton sets out to protect the speck from danger. On his way to find a safe place for the flower containing the speck, Horton runs in to some trouble. The leader (Kangaroo) thinks Horton is lying and she wants him stopped.

I tend to not really enjoy Jim Carrey movies. I think he goes way overboard in his parts until he’s way surpassed funny and is more in to painful territory. But that wasn’t true with Horton. Horton was just the right amount of funny. Not overdone. Not boring. But just right.

I like most of Steve Carell’s movies (even though some of them are more fraternity humor than anything) and he did not disappoint as the Mayor of Whoville. I laughted with the mayor. I cried with the mayor. And I felt sorry for him when the whole town thought he was crazy for talking to an elephant in the sky.

The mean Kangaroo was played by Carol Burnett. She didn’t believe that there were people on the speck and she didn’t want Horton giving the children the idea of imagination. So she set out to destroy Horton’s flower and the speck.

The movie has a great message. “A person’s a person no matter how small.” Horton was determined to help the Who’s even if it meant going against his own community. He was scared, but kept going to make sure Whoville was safe. It was very touchy.

I give this movie five out of five beans. It’s a must see. Get your kids to the movie theater immediately.