Quite a while before “green” was the new black; Dr. Seuss wrote a cautionary story about trees. The Lorax, originally published in 1971 by Dr. Seuss, became a classic children’s book. The classic was recently turned into an animated film. In 2012, The Lorax film was made by directors Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda (“The Lorax”). The book and the film have the same basic storyline; however, there are a few differences. The Lorax film is more in depth than the book. The book, The Lorax went through many changes to become a film.
The Lorax written by Dr. Seuss is a classic children’s book about a mysterious forest creature named the Lorax. The Lorax speaks for the trees; he shows up when the Once-ler, a young entrepreneur, starts to cut down trees to make a thneed. The Once-ler tells a young unnamed boy the story about why the Lorax left and why there are no more trees. At the end, the boy receives the last Truffula Tree seed from the Once-ler. The Lorax film is about a young boy named Ted who wants to find out about trees after his crush Audrey said that she would marry the boy who got her a Truffula Tree seed. Ted goes to the Once-ler’s house. The Once-ler tells Ted about why the Lorax left and why there are no more trees. At the end of the film, Ted receives the last Truffula Tree seed. He and Audrey plant the seed in the middle of Thneedville. Truffula Trees start to grow again and the Lorax returns to speak to the Once-ler. The Lorax is a great, cautionary tale. According to Puig, “Anyone older than 10 can discern that herein lies a parable of green vs. greed. All ages are likely to find the cautionary tale entertaining as well as illuminating. Some might even find it galvanizing” (par. 10).
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Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Seuss, has written many poems as well as short stories, and is considered one of the greatest children’s author in history. His silly stories are able to excite children in ways that make them want read. His Wife says,” Ted doesn’t sit down to write for children. He writes to amuse himself;” Little do children know that often, in his stories, there is a lot of political undertone, a few examples include The Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, The Sneethces, and The Butter Battle Book. If you were to really critique some of his books or poems, you might see that some of his themes wouldn’t seem to pertain to children.
The Lorax, is a small orange creature who deomstrates a love of the envrionment and a desire to preserve it. However, his wishes are interuppted by the Once-ler as he endeavors to create an aritfical society and succeeds. Transcendentalism manifests through the creation of these two characters as the Lorax can represedent the transdentalists love of nature, while the Once-ler may illustrate societys corruption of its destructive nature. Moreover, the film and piece of literature display the ability of an indiviudal to be corrupted by society and the advantage of living alone in nature, as the Lorax did. To further explain, the transdentalist belief of noncomformity is depicted through the character Ted, as he strives to find a real tree despite societys love of their fake
Many time in our lives, we have seen the transformation of novels into movies. Some of them are equal to the novel, few are superior, and most are inferior. Why is this? Why is it that a story that was surely to be one of the best written stories ever, could turn out to be Hollywood flops? One reason is that in many transformations, the main characters are changed, some the way they look, others the way they act. On top of this, scenes are cut out and plot is even changed. In this essay, I will discuss some of the changes made to the characters of the Maltese Falcon as they make their transformation to the ?big screen.?
Reichardt, Kelly (Director), Raymond, John and Reichardt, Kelly (Writers), Williams, Michelle and Robinson, John (Performances). 2008. Oscilloscope Pictures, 2009. DVD
Theodore Geisel, commonly known as Dr Seuss, published “The Lorax” in 1971. “The Lorax” is a popular children's book that focuses on human ecology and the environmental movement. The book tells the story of the Once-ler, and how his business led to him cutting down all the Truffula trees, which destroyed the ecosystem, habitat, and polluted the water and the air in the meantime. “The Lorax”, while it is a very substantial tool for the environmental movement, presents several wrong ideas about the ecological movement. Even though Seuss' book is successful, people who wish to use this book to teach about the environment should be careful about how they utilize it as a text. While raising important questions, “The Lorax” offers answers that can be precarious, despite Seuss' good intentions. The main point of “The Lorax” is that no society can benefit from exhausting their renewable resources. However, there are contradictions within the story and the solutions steer the attention of the audience away from alternatives that can accomplish the goals stated in the book; the second point is shown in the story because the idea that people must change instead of their motivations is obvious in the interaction between the Lorax and the Once-ler. Before going examining these statements, this paper will summarize “The Lorax” and will challenge the story's solidity.
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The reclusive film director Terrence Malick has to date, only directed a small number of films. His twenty year hiatus between directing Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), may provide the explanation for such a sparse back catalogue. Malick’s refusal to talk with the media, has led to hearsay, as to how he occupied his time during the hiatus. Malick’s directing debut Badlands (1973) is a collection of concepts, all carefully moulded together to create one iconic piece of film. This process draws in and also alienates the audience. Malick’s style is positively noted by critics to be influenced by European philosophy. This is clearly due to Malick’s study of philosophy at Harvard and Magdalen College Oxford. There is no given explanation to the mindless violence featured within the film, mainly due to the films resistance to the straight forward approach. The familiar and the unknown are carefully merged together. The only way of gaining an understanding into the hidden meanings within Badlands is by breaking down the film, by looking at the characters, the use of sound, the visual setting and the films genre. The illusionary effect of Malick’s style means that all is not as it seems.
...hors who got away with moralizing. The quirky illustrations and creative wordplay enable his readers to enjoy his books, while at the same time recognize morals (Hurst). Because of his innovative approach to writing books for children, Dr. Seuss has influenced American society immensely. The Oobleck he created in Bartholomew and Oobleck became the green, slimy gunk now seen on popular television networks, such as Nickelodeon (Ford 66). Furthermore, his publishing company, Beginner Books, produced a new series of children’s books called the Berenstein Bears, enabling children to enjoy more reading (Kaplan).
a. The Truax points out both good and bad in relations to cutting down the trees. Through communication with Guardbark, the Truax states that cutting down the trees is beneficial for the environment. He explains that the cut trees are being replaced with the new trees that are planted. Furthermore, he says that people are well informed about conservation and that 95 million acres land had been set aside in Natural Preserves. In contrast to the Truax, the Lorax only indicates that cutting down the trees is horrible and gives big damage to the environment. According to the Lorax, the Truffula trees and the animals should be protected since the pristine environment depends on them. When Once-ler cuts all the trees down, the atmosphere gets polluted and the Truffula tree forest’s animals, Swomee-Swans, Brown Bar-ba-loots, and Humming-Fish have no choice other than abandoning their homes. The Lorax is written only from a pessimistic point of view. The only good thing in the story is the ending where the narrator hands the last Truffula tree seed to the child so he can plant and make a positive change
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Throughout the history of film production, many directors have conducted movies based on popular, preexisting novels. While directing an already scripted, well plotted movie may seem simple and effortless, it comes with its fair share of obstacles, the main being deciding which scenes to utilize. This editorial power provided Barry Levinson, the director of the film The Natural, to add, cut, and alter scenes from Bernard Malamud's literary masterpiece from which it was based. These changes allowed Barry Levinson to create his individualized version of The Natural.
Barsam, R. M., Monahan, D., & Gocsik, K. M. (2012). Looking at movies: an introduction to film (4th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co..