Horton is a quirky elephant with a keen imagination that doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the residents of the Jungle of Nool except for the children perhaps. While he was swimming one afternoon, he hears a faint shout for help and traces it to a speck on a clover. He begins to believe that there is more to life than what he sees and that an entire civilization of Whos had made their home upon the dust speck he’d found.

He befriends the Mayor of Who-ville and while he can hear the mayor perfectly, no one else can. Needless to say his fellow jungle dwellers think Horton has gone completely insane — one kangaroo in particular. Despite their disbelief, he repeatedly says, “A person is a person no matter how small.” He vows to help get the mayor and the rest of Who-ville to someplace safe where they won’t be in danger anymore.

The movie stays true to Seuss’ vision. The scenery and characters are beautifully done, reminiscent of his fanciful illustrations, and the animation was beautifully done. The movie follows the book almost perfectly except for the added-in dialogue and musical sequences — they did have to take an approximately 32 page book and turn it into an hour and twenty eight minute movie. One word of caution is that while the movie is toddler-friendly, the bad guys of the movie — the monkeys and the vulture — are creepy. They get their comeuppance in the end, but they could easily scare a younger child.