The Worst Film Ever

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"Horton Hatches the Egg" is a short film from 1942, so this one has its 75th anniversary this year. It is a co-production between Schlesinger Studios and Warner Bros. and unusually long for a cartoon from that time. Usually they ran for 7 minutes, but this one here stands at almost 10. So yeah, this is another one from the Golden Age of Animation and this of course means that visually, it is an absolute delight taking into account when this was made. There are not any of the Warner Bros. standard cartoon characters in here (Bugs, Daffy), but the focus here is on an elephant, who gets an A+ for dedication in the story here and a nice little reward at the very end that was pretty sweet, almost touching. Sadly, most of the action before that is not really too memorable, so the plot could have been better and even gets a bit repetitive. The three antagonists, if you can call them like that (Mother Bird also has something going for her), look as if they are taken right out of a Bugs Bunny cartoon though, also a bit on the incompetent side, but luckily the elephant is not as resilient as Bugs. Oh yeah, final note, this one here is actually based on a work by Dr. Seuss and he had many more adaptations to come in the following decades. It may not be as good as Elmer The Elephant, but it is still worth watching, mostly thanks to the revelation at the very end.

I said what I meant and I meant what I said. I am tired of the katherine hepburn impersonations in these cartoons really I am. Peter Lorre impersonations are also made in many cartoons from the thirties and forties. Others include the marx brothers and Laurel and Hardy. Come on impersonate some other celebrities or do not do it at all. Why kill yourself if you've seen everything. Also you cannot really see everything. You could spend a life time and what you've seen would still be almost negliglble. That joke has been done many times before in the thirties also. What a lazy bird. What's with the rhyming Dr Zeuss? Some are really unnecessary. Oh well at least not everything was being rhymed with everything else or it would just be weird. Not the best Dr Zeuss inspired cartoon. The ending is just ridiculous. This is my opinion but some may find it cute and charming there is nothing wrong with that. That is not the case with me.

Dr Seuss was one of my childhood favourite authors(and I still hold a lot of fondness for them) and Bob Clampett was one of the best and most unique animation directors. Combining the two together seemed like a match made in heaven, and this is something that translates just as well on screen. I am glad that there are others who hold Horton Hatches the Egg, and I wish it was better known because of all the animated cartoons/specials there is of Dr Seuss' work(the granddaddy of them all being How the Grinch Stole Christmas) Horton Hatches the Egg is among the best ones. The animation is beautifully drawn and brightly coloured, you have got to love the Peter Lorre fish, that was genius. Clampett even brings his own edge to it while still remaining faithful to Dr Seuss' style, which I really liked. The music is whimsical and upbeat both in the incidental scoring and the ditties, while the dialogue and rhymes are as catchy and witty as ever, again having that Clampett edge while still feeling and sounding like Dr Seuss. The story and characters are always engaging, there is a great deal of charm and heart and often it is hugely funny too. The voice work is just great. In conclusion, a classic that deserves better recognition. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Every animation fan is well aware of Chuck Jones's Christmas classic 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', a seasonal staple based on the classic story by Dr. Seuss. However, fewer people are aware of Bob Clampett's adaptation of a Seuss story, 'Horton Hatches the Egg', which predates Jones's effort by a couple of decades. Out of all the Warner Bros. directors, Clampett is arguably the most obvious choice as the ideal person to adapt Seuss's surreal tales and he more than proves himself with 'Horton Hatches the Egg'. Both the genius of Clampett and of Seuss shine through as Clampett deftly weaves his own edgy, grotesque humour into Seuss's friendlier tomfoolery. Exceptional wordplay (rhyming "it doesn't make sense" with "I'm so immense" is merely the tip of the iceberg) and brightly coloured characters and settings collide with Hollywood caricatures, indelible images and off-colour jokes about backsides, sea-sickness and characters shooting themselves in the head! Clocking in at just under ten minutes, 'Horton Hatches the Egg' is longer than the average Merrie Melodie but if anything it leaves the viewer begging for even more. It's truly a shame that there were no further Clampett/Seuss collaborations as it is clearly a match made in heaven. 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' may be the recognised classic but 'Horton Hatches the Egg' deserves to be as widely celebrated and its egg-based narrative makes it ideal for the Easter schedules. If only these gorgeous cartoons weren't so rapidly disappearing from our screens, perhaps 'Horton Hatches the Egg' (along with hundreds of other classics) might be rediscovered by a whole new generation. In the meantime, you can get your hands on this charming short on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume 6 DVD.