History Literature / HortonHearsAWho

* No-Holds-BarredBeatdown: At the part of the story where Horton is being roped and caged, it’s mentioned that they beat and maul him

* SkywardScream: In all versions of the story, [[spoiler:Jojo's shout ("YOPP!") is the final sound that pushes the sounds of the Whos bursting out of the clover.]]

''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a 1954 children's book by Creator/DrSeuss that tells the tale of how Horton the Elephant will protect a speck at all costs, believing that a whole city of people exists on it. Though the entire Jungle of Nool derides him for it, he holds on to his belief and must protect the speck with the town of Whoville on it at all costs.

''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a 1954 children's book by Creator/DrSeuss, adapted into a 1970 {{animated s|hows}}pecial by MGM Animation/Visual Arts (the studio responsible for the classic animated adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'') and a 2008 animated film from Creator/BlueSkyStudios (the creators of ''WesternAnimation/IceAge''). The book's plot also makes up a sizable part of the plot of the stage musical ''Theatre/{{Seussical}}''.

Rare for Seuss, the book is a sequel (to ''Literature/HortonHatchesTheEgg)''. It was dedicated to a Japanese friend of the author, Mitsugi Nakamura. In fact, Seuss intended for the story to serve as a metaphor for the Allied occupation of Japan following UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with ''Horton Hears The Who'', which is a) a bootleg CD of Music/TheWho and b) an IncrediblyLamePun so obvious it has been made several other times independently.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: The 1954 Book and Its Adaptations]]

!!This book and its adaptations provides examples of:

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Rudy in the movie. While in the book his character amounted to simply echoing his mother's "Humph," in the film he has a curious and skeptical personality regarding his mother's actions, [[spoiler:even being the one to personally save the clover from falling into the beezelnut oil.]]
* AscendedExtra: Jojo in both the movie and ''Seussical''.

* TheCameo: The Grinch, of all characters, makes a cameo in the 1970 TV adaptation.
** And the modern version: Watch the new version of the "We Are Here" chorus - if that's not the Grinch playing that tiny set of pan pipes, he's one heck of a doppelganger.
** He also makes a cameo in ''Seussical''.

* CryingCritters: Happens twice in the movie, first Horton breaks down crying when he's searching for the Whos in the clover field, and second Vlad cries when he witnesses an emotional moment at the end.

* GutPunch: How both the book and the movie reveal that Vlad has just dropped the clover containing Whoville into a ''thousand-mile-wide'' patch of identical clovers. In the book, it's a simple page turn, while in the movie, it's a dramatic camera pan, and both hit the viewer smack in the face with that massive field of solid pink.

* KarmaHoudini: Sour Kangaroo, especially in the movie. WordOfGod says that in the movie she was originally going to get much better comeuppence in the form of all the other animals turning their back on her, but the writers decided to cut that out saying that "Dr. Seuss wasn't big on revenge".

* NamedByTheAdaptation
** Jane and Junior Kangaroo in the animated special. These names carried over to ''Series/TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss''.
** Rudy Kangaroo in the movie; his mother is still just "the Sour Kangaroo" or "Mother Kangaroo". Also Mayor Nedd [=McDodd=] and Jojo [=McDodd=] by relation.
* {{Narrator}}: Charles Osgood in the movie, Hans Conried in the special... [[ThankingTheViewer and you, for the book!]]

* RecursiveReality: Horton discovers a whole world in a tiny dust speck. The TV special of it has an ending in which the main Who finds another dust speck with its own world. At one point in The Movie, Horton wonders whether the universe he inhabits could itself exist as a speck of dust to another universe.

* VisualPun: Both the TV special and film quite literally see a gaggle of GossipyHens deride Horton.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: The 1970 Cartoon Adaptation]]
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!!The 1970 cartoon adaptation provides examples of:

* AdaptationNameChange: Vlad Vladikoff's name is changed to Whizzer [=McWhoff=], for no apparent reason.
* AliensNeverInventedTheWheel: When Horton warns the doctor to brace for the drop from [=McWhoff=], Dr. Hoovey expresses confusion on what a seatbelt is. None of the Whos appear to use motor vehicles either; only ones powered by pedals.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The Wickersham Brothers claim that Horton will "shut our schools, and steal our jewels, and even change our football rules."
* GossipyHens: Jane Kangaroo tasks a Mrs. Tessie Toucanella to spread word of Horton's "delusion" through Precinct 23 of the jungle. From there, the [[VisualPun other birds]] begin to talk to each other for the first song of the special, progressively painting Horton as mentally unsound with each verse.
* HereWeGoAgain: The ending to the animated special, when Hoovey hears from a speck of his own.
* ItRunsInTheFamily: As the jungle's birds gossip about how Horton has gone "schizo-witsa-fistic", they allege that it is a hereditary insanity, coming from a supposed cousin's uncle named Nate that believed himself to be the father-in-law of Catherine the Great.
* IWarnedYou: Inverted. The ''Whos'' acknowledge themselves the massive destruction Whoville receives from being dropped from the sky by Vlad, that Dr. Hoovey had warned them that there was life beyond Whoville that could put their whole world at risk and they had not given his claims a speck (pun intended) of regard.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: The Sour Kangaroo is named Jane Kangaroo, and the Mayor of Whoville becomes Dr. H. Hoovey.
* RapidFireDescriptors: At one point in the "Mrs. Toucanella Told Me" song in the movie, the birds describe Horton as "manic, depressive, retrogressive, recessive, ''and'' progressively, excessively, possessively, oppressively acquessive'."
* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: Type 4. The only real difference from the book is that the mayor is downgraded to a science professor named Dr. H. Hoovey. and a subplot is added involving the townspeople ridiculing his claims about there being life beyond Whoville and being an outcast as a result.
* StockFootage: The 1970 special uses this quite a bit, as well as recycling animation from WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas for when the Whos are making all that noise, ''noise, '''noise!'''''
* VillainSong: The Wickersham Brothers get perhaps the catchiest number in the 1970 special. They also [[AngryMobSong do some chanting when caging Horton and trying to boil the clover]].
* WhenSheSmiles: Similar to the Grinch in Jones' previous Seuss adaptation, when they realize the Whos are real, Jane and the Wickershams, who had only grimaced or smirked for most of the cartoon before, beam a happy and rather sincere smile.
* WitchHunt: The Wickersham Brothers in the 1970s version treat Horton like a RedScare. "You're trying to stir up discontent, and take the reins of government..."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The 2008 Adaptation]]
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[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/33803826438abe39896d0e1f5311e098.jpg]]
!!The 2008 adaptation provides examples of:
* {{Acrofatic}}: For an ''elephant'', Horton is ''quite'' graceful. He does a ''perfect swan dive'' into the river. He also climbs up a steep cliff.
* ActingOutADaydream: Horton imagines himself as an anime action hero and starts doing ninja moves in the real world.
* ActorAllusion: As with the ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' franchise, Will Arnett appears in a Creator/BlueSkyStudios property as a sinister looking bird. Extra points for both of them being vultures.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade:
** A {{downplayed}} case, but after the Whos are confirmed to exist on the speck, the other animals are visibly ''not'' happy at all with the Sour Kangaroo for assigning them to destroy it (especially given the more vindictive measures she took against Horton in this interpretation), leaving her shunned and remorseful until Horton shows her sympathy. In the book and special, the animals merely accept and celebrate the Whos with the kangaroo EasilyForgiven.
** PlayedForLaughs with the Mayor, who upon first hearing Horton, has trouble believing their co-existance, and upon finally realizing, essentially has a FreakOut.
* AdaptationExpansion: The movie, as necessary to make a short children's book into a feature-length movie.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange:
** Though his retains his stoic dedication and good heart, Horton, once a soft-spoken GentleGiant, is presented here as a spastic gag-machine (more accurately, [[InkSuitActor Jim Carrey in an elephant suit]]). [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.]]
** In the book, the joey willingly agrees with his mother's belief that a civilization cannot exist on a tiny flower. In the film, the joey (named Rudy here) is more accepting of Horton's assertions, and does not like it when Sour Kangaroo (named Jane here) accuses Horton of being crazy.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Vlad goes from a "black-bottomed eagle" to a vulture.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original story, Sour Kangaroo was a WellIntentionedExtremist who was grumpy, but not really much of a villain. Here, she's a straight-up sadist who cares more about her own ego than the other jungle animals, and seems to have a lot more fun in torturing Horton than she should. Not to mention being portrayed as borderline abusive toward the children that she claims to be [[ThinkOfTheChildren protecting]].
** Look at the way the animals are cowering in fear of her at the beginning. Did she previously [[FridgeHorror abuse them in the past?]]
** And possibly genocidal (toward the Whos) as well. Notice how she tried to take the clover away from Horton ''even after she heard the Whos' "We are here".''
** [[FeatheredFiend Vlad Vladikoff]] as well. In the original story, he didn't have much of a role. He simply just carried the clover off and dropped it. In the film, on the other hand, he's upgraded to a genuinely terrifying, dangerous, and feared character, with [[ToothyBird sharp teeth]] and a sadistic sense of humor. Just look at his [[SlasherSmile gleeful grin]] when he tells Kangaroo to offer her son to him as food.
* AllLovingHero: Horton. He even forgives and makes peace with the Kangaroo, despite everything she's put him through.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: The mayor's 96 daughters all have names that begin with H.
* ArtShift: Happens twice. The first time is a 2D animated sequence drawn completely in Seuss' distinctive style. The other is an {{animesque}} parody action sequence/daydream, complete with [[HongKongDub mouth movements that don't match up to the voices]].
* AskAStupidQuestion: When Morton warns Horton that Kangaroo has sent Vlad to destroy the clover.
--> '''Horton''': Is it the Bad Vlad or the Bunny Vlad that makes the cookies?\\
'''Morton''': [[SarcasmMode Yeah Horton. She's sending you a bunny with cookies]]. I think we can assume it's the Bad Vlad!
* TheAtoner: Horton [[EasilyForgiven makes his peace]] with [[spoiler: Sour Kangaroo having her VillainousBSOD, who in response gladly protects the Whos as much as he does.]]
* BackingAwaySlowly: At one point in the movie, Horton shouts, "I'm talking to the mayor!". However, because the mayor is invisibly small, a nearby bird is confused and slowly backs away.
* BigBad: The Kangaroo serves as this, hunting down Horton so she can make him admit that he's supposedly wrong about the speck having living people inside of it.
* BigLittleBrother: The mayor of Whoville is always the oldest child of the previous mayor of Whoville. The oldest child of the current mayor of Whoville, Jojo, is not only the smallest child, but also the smallest of his ENTIRE kind.
* BitsOfMeKeepPassingOut: The Mayor is at the dentist when an earthquake (caused by the speck the Whos all inhabit moving) occurs, and the Novocaine needle ends up in his arm, which remains limp and useless for some time afterward.
* BreakoutCharacter: Jojo quickly became the most popular character in the film adaptation.
* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:The other Vlad]].
** And Burt from Accounting makes an appearance.
** On the rope bridge, Horton thinks that inhaling deeply will make him lighter. Near the end Katie inhales deeply... and ''floats away''.
* CannotKeepASecret: Despite Morton's warnings, Horton cannot resist telling the children of Nool about the dust speck on his clover.
* CassandraTruth: Nobody in [=WhoVille=] believes the mayor when he tells them he can communicate with the mysterious voice in the sky named Horton or that something bad will happen to their world. [[spoiler: Until it's almost too late that is.]]
** Nobody in the Jungle of Nool believes Horton when he says there's a tiny village of Whos living on the dust speck he protects.
* CanonForeigner
** Morton the Mouse.
** Additional children are seen aside from Rudy. Horton starts the movie off tutoring the yak Katie, the bear Tommy, and the bird Jessica.
** Jessica's mother, Mrs. Quilligan, is a Russian Palooski who serves the same purpose Mrs. Toucanella did in the 1970 special. Tommy's father, Willie, also appears.
** All of the named Whos aside from Nedd and Jojo [=McDodd=].
** The other Vlad (the bunny one who bakes cookies).
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}:
** Katie. Her mind's really out there.
** Horton himself. Just the sheer fact that Horton is voiced by Creator/JimCarrey in the film qualifies him for this.
* ContinuityNod: Horton's catchphrase in the movie was, of course, imported from ''Horton Hatches the Egg''.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Horton's plan in the movie is to relocate the Whos to a safer place (since in the adaption [=WhoVille=] has somehow become unstable). Guess where he chooses? ''A mountain''. Colder climate. Less hospitable terrain. [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption Yes, he choose a mountain]]. Sour Kangaroo and her vacant pouch would have been a more sensible choice (and poetic, going from destroyer to protector of the Whos) after her [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-face turn]].
* CreepyChild: Katie in the movie. "Aaah..."
* CrowdSong: The end of the movie.
* DeathbringerTheAdorable: There are two Vlads living in Nool; one's a fiendish buzzard, the other a friendly bunny.
* DeathGlare: After the other animals finally hear the Whos, Sour Kangaroo still tries to rally them to continue the plan. They all shoot a very sharp one of these her direction, [[OhCrap promptly shutting her up]].
* DelayedOhCrap: Eventually Horton catches on to the angry mob.
-->'''Horton:''' Oh! I see! It's an angry mob! Coming right... for... (Starts getting it) Oh no...
* DisneyDeath: Inverted. After Vlad drops Horton's clover into a field of over 3,000,005 clovers, Horton manages to find his last clover, inside the speck where the entire Whoville is almost demolished by an impact. Luckily, the Mayor and the Whos survive.
* EasilyForgiven: The animals in the Jungle of Nool. Parodied when Horton says he couldn't have done it without their utter lack of support and naked aggression.
* EvilIsHammy: Vlad.
* ExplosiveBreeder: The [=McDodd=]-O'Malley progenies, consisting of ninety-six daughters and just one son named Jojo.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Vlad.
* FreezeFrameBonus: If you pause on the wedding photo of [=Ned McDodd=] and his wife, you'll notice that Ned [=McDodd=] looks identical to their son Jojo when he was younger.
** Look at the photos on the wall in Ned and Sally's bedroom, there's one where Ned is skiing with Jojo.
* FantasyForbiddingFather: The Kangaroo refuses to believe Whos live on the dust speck Horton guards and is against her son and other children "behaving like wild animals" and make-believing they have people on their dust speck clovers too. Going as far as to smash up her son's clover.
* GadgeteerGenius: Jojo has a natural talent for creating machines that make a lot of noise.
* {{Goth}}: Jojo shows some shades of this.
* GroinAttack: The mayor gets wedged between a door as a large fishbowl strikes him in the crotch.
** Which is to say nothing of what happens later during the Vlad chase. The Mayor rolls out onto his balcony, hits one of the railing pillars between his legs, then is shoved in further by his desk, a couch and a ''refrigerator''. Safe to say there probably won't be a 98th child.
* HeelFaceTurn: The Kangaroo and makes peace with Horton and the other animals by the end of the movie. Even Vlad to an extent goes through this at the end as well.
* HappilyAdopted: Horton the Elephant along with his brother Morton the blue mouse.
* HypocriticalHumor:
** "He has the nerve to call me a boob? I would never call somebody a boob. ''HE'S'' a boob!"
** Sour Kangaroo's claiming for [[ThinkOfTheChildren the children's safety]], then suddenly punting Katie out of the jungle.
* IgnoredExpert: The Mayor of Whoville.
* ILoveTheSmellOfXInTheMorning:
-->'''Horton:''' I love the smell of bananas in the morning!
* ImagineSpot: See ArtShift above.
* InkSuitActor: Downplayed. Horton doesn't ''exactly'' look like Jim Carrey here, but after he was cast, the more faithfully-designed Horton model was updated to include Carrey's expressive mouth.
* IronLady: Sour Kangaroo is the de-facto authority figure in the jungle of Nool, instead of the [[MoralGuardians moral guardian of the children]] she claims to be, quickly punishing anyone who defies her.
* JumpScare: Vlad's introduction.
** Made fun of later on when Horton thinks he's lost him:
--> '''Horton:''' ''(out of breath, panting)'' I just know he's gonna jump out somewhere.
--> '''Vlad:''' ''(right in front of him, softly)'' Hello.
--> '''Horton:''' ''(screams)''
* KnightTemplarParent: Mother Kangaroo.
* LargeHam: Subdued, compared to his other performances, but Jim Carrey as Horton.
* LaughablyEvil: Vlad, of course.
* LostInImitation: The films borrows some concepts from previous adaptations of the story:
** The mayor (or Dr. Hoovey in the 1970 special) trying to prove to the people of Whoville that life beyond their world exists, but is not believed and ridiculed by the citizens, which comes back to bite them later.
** The concept of Jojo being an AscendedExtra as the mayor's misunderstood son and the fact that Whoville [[spoiler: is somehow not damaged in the slightest from the the fall into the cloverpatch]] both come from ''Theatre/{{Seussical}}'', which uses this story as one of the main plots.
* MediumShiftGag: The previously AllCGICartoon briefly shifts into an {{Anime}} {{parody}} as Horton imagines himself as a ninja sworn to protect the tiny world on the clover.
** There's even a brief traditionally animated segment drawn in Dr. Seuss' style when Horton imagines a Who on the speck "calling for help".
* MyBelovedSmother: Sour Kangaroo is this to Rudy, refusing to let him leave her pouch. [[spoiler:Well, until the end of the film at least...]]
* MythologyGag: The abandoned clifftop observatory outside of Whoville strongly parallels the design of Eiffelberg Tower that Dr. Hoovey operated from, and [[spoiler:similarly ended up being the very spot where the last "Yopp!" needed was shot]].
* {{Narrator}}: Charles Osgood narrates the film.
* NerdsAreSexy: Dr. [=LaRue=].
* ObliviouslyEvil: While the Kangaroo is rather unambiguously cruel towards Horton, she ''honestly'' didn't realize that the speck ''did'' have living people inside of it.
* OddNameOut: Ninety-six of the Mayor's ninety-seven children all have names beginning with the letter H. Jojo, the Mayor's only son, is the OddNameOut.
* OneSteveLimit: There are two Vlads that Horton knows: one is an evil vulture, the other one is a bunny that bakes cookies. [[spoiler:They both actually exist.]]
* OnlySaneMan: In the movie, Rudy [the joey] and possibly Jojo as well.
* ResentfulOutnumberedSibling: The Mayor has ninety-six daughters, and only one son, Jojo. No wonder Jojo feels left out.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the original book the Mayor and Jojo are unrelated. Here, they are father and son.
* RhymingNames: Both Sally O'Malley and Dr. Mary Lou [=LaRue=].
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Again, Katie.
* RopeBridge: Horton has to cross one on his way to Mt. Nool.
-->'''Horton''': This looks...kinda...precarious. Well, no need to worry. Obviously, when they build a bridge like this, they take into account that elephants will be crossing here.
* ShamingTheMob: Subverted, along with the RousingSpeech.
* ShoutOut: Several to various Dr. Seuss works.
** One Who has a blue hat similar to the one worn by Literature/TheCatInTheHat, as well as a few of The Cat's mannerisms (including a smaller version of himself underneath his hat).
** The Mayor and his family eat Literature/GreenEggsAndHam for breakfast.
** The city council seems to consist of [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas Grinches]].
** Rudy's imaginary clover friend is named "Thidwick", a reference to the eponymous capreolid of ''Literature/ThidwickTheBigHeartedMoose''.
** Mayor [=McDodd=] has a red fish as a pet in his office, possibly a reference to ''Literature/OneFishTwoFishRedFishBlueFish'', or Carlos K. Krinklebein from ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat''.
** Several recognizable species can be seen amongst Nool's fauna, such as the Russian Palooski and Glummox seen in ''Literature/IfIRanTheZoo'' and the Zatz-it from ''On Beyond Zebra''.
** One of the portraits of past mayors was [[spoiler:[[CreatorCameo Dr. Seuss]]]] himself (specifically, the one of Ned's father)!
* SilentSnarker: Jojo, [[spoiler:up until [[SuddenlySpeaking he begins talking again]].]]
* StealthPun: In the original story, Vlad was described as a "black-bottomed eagle". Here, he looks more like a vulture, without feathers on his head. So wait, does that make him a [[spoiler:[[{{Pun}} bald eagle]]]]?
* StrawHypocrite: Sour Kangaroo, obviously cares more about putting down others than actually caring about [[ThinkOfTheChildren the children.]] It's followed by kicking Katie across the jungle.
* StylisticSuck: The music during Horton's {{Animesque}} ImagineSpot, which sounds like the soundtrack to a cheesy '70s kung-fu movie being played on a beat-up 8-track tape.
* SuddenlySpeaking: Jojo shouts "YOPP!", and finally speaking for the first time.
* SuddenMusicalEnding: And ''how.'' "[[Music/REOSpeedwagon Can't Fight This Feeling]]", out of nowhere.
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: At one point the Mayor tries to pop the inflated ball in an attempt to demonstrate how easy the world on the speck could explode. The key word is "tries": the tool he chose for that (a ball pen) is nowhere near sharp enough to pop the ball outright and only proceeds to puncture it, with air leaking out very slowly. And of course, it fails to convince the rest of Whoville about the incoming danger.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: The Mayor constantly reassures the Doctor that he absolutely ''did not'' have a conversation with an elephant in the sky.
* TakeThat: The film takes a shot at home-schooling families by having the HateSink Sour Kangaroo boast about "pouch-schooling" her child.
* ThinkOfTheChildren: In the 2008 movie, the kangaroo rallies all the other animals in the jungle against Horton with this cry.
* ToothyBird: Vlad Vladikoff, a toothy vulture.
* TotallyRadical:
** When the Mayor tries to relate to Jojo at the beginning of the film. It fails.
** Vlad Vladikoff also talks like this, when he's not being threatening.
* TravelingPipeBulge: This happens when Horton's voice first travels down the pipe to the mayor's office.
* TreeBuchet: How Horton gets rid of Vlad in the movie.
-->'''Horton:''' Sorry, [[OneLiner this is where we get off.]] ''(lets go of tree, catapulting Vlad away)'' Cool line. [[LampshadeHanging Usually I can't think of those until later.]]
* TremorTrampoline: Happens to the world of Whoville several times; after all, a small bump from Horton's perspective is a ''big'' bump from the Whos perspective.
** One time when it happened, was while a house was under construction; when everything was bounced skywards, the house came back down ''fully built''.
* UnlikelyHero: Although you can see it coming a mile away, the mopey, silent Jojo is, of course, the one who [[spoiler: comes through in the end]].
* WhamShot:
** In both the book and the movie, TheReveal that Vlad has just dropped the clover containing Whoville into a thousand-mile wide field of clovers.
** The narrator revealing at the end that the Jungle of Nool (and Earth as a whole) is just one speck, like Whoville, among numerous others, floating in outer space.
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Subverted; the main villain is a kangaroo.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Jojo's main reason for never talking is that he thinks that if he does, then he'll disappoint his father.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Kangaroo is actually a subversion. It's pretty obvious that she's enforcing her rules for the sake of her own ego instead of actually protecting anybody (She goes on about protecting the children, [[HypocriticalHumor then kicks Katie]] [[{{Jerkass}} clear across the jungle]]).
* WitchHunt: There's a bit of this in the 2008 movie as well.
--> '''Kangaroo:''' If the children hear stories about worlds beyond the jungle, they'll start to question authority! [[SlipperySlopeFallacy Which leads to defiance, which lead to ANARCHY!]]
[[/folder]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.