The Australian trailer for Universal’s upcoming adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax has made its way online and it seems to put a bit more emphasis on the source material than the previously released trailer did.
Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is a fable that barely masks its message about the environment. The book tells the story of “the Once-ler,” a faceless man who comes upon a vast land of trees, which he can chop down and use to make “Thneeds.” He successfully convinces people they need thneeds, putting them in high demand and resulting in the business’ fast expansion, which eventually obliterates the tree population, wreaking havoc on the environment in the process. All the while, the Lorax, a furry little creature who serves as the voice of the environment, is trying to make the Once-ler see what he’s doing to the place as the Bar-ba-Loots and Swomee Swans are forced to evacuate their homes in search of some less polluted, less decimated land. The lesson of the story isn’t hard to pick up on.
The trailer released for the film at the end of last month seems to put a great deal of emphasis on some of the added-on elements to the story, the adventurous look of the film, and the big names attached to lend their voices to the project. As The Lorax is a feature-length film based on a children's book, a bit of story development will be needed to flesh it out, which explains what we’ve been shown of the boy (Zac Efron) and his expanded story arc in the film. The Australian trailer takes us closer to the book and the story-within-a-story angle...
While the previously released trailer didn’t really offer much in terms of the story, aside from a boy’s interest in trees, this one gives us a little bit more, and at the very least gives us a better idea of how the source material fits into the movie. It seems likely that the message about killing trees and wrecking the environment will be a bit more subtle in the film, though the emphasis of the ax hitting the tree does suggest that it will be addressed and the moral of the story may remain intact.
Ed Helms is set to voice the Once-ler, with Danny DeVito speaking for the very Seuss-y looking flora and fauna as the Lorax. Meanwwhile, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift are Ted and Audrey.
More on The Lorax can be found in our film database here.
