The Lorax is a children's book written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971.
It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against
the greedy Once-ler.
As in most Dr. Seuss works, most of the creatures mentioned are original to the book.
The book is commonly recognized as a fable concerning the danger corporate greed poses
to nature, using the literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler and
the environment as The Lorax.
The Lorax was Dr. Seuss' personal favorite of his books.
He was able to create something regarding economic and environmental issues without
it being dull.
"The Lorax," he once explained, "came out of my being angry.
In The Lorax I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where
they might"
Plot A young boy living in a town pays the reclusive
"Once-ler", living "on the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows...[on] the Street
of the Lifted Lorax", to explain the name of the street; and the Once-ler narrates in
flashback that he once arrived in a pristine valley containing playful fauna that spent
their days among "Truffula trees", and himself began to cut down the Truffula trees to gather
raw material to knit "Thneeds": a woollen-like creation advertised and sold by himself.
From the first tree he cuts, emerges the Lorax: the region's self-proclaimed spokesman and
superintendent, who warns the Once-ler against cutting down the Truffula trees.
The Once-ler ignores him and instead establishes a factory staffed entirely by his own relatives,
to produce more Thneeds.
As the Thneed industry expands, the region becomes polluted, and the various species
depart: the Bar-ba-loots first, in search of food; the Swomee-Swans next, for want of
clean air; and the Humming-Fish last, to escape polluted water.
These departures are shown to the Once-ler by the Lorax to demonstrate the extent of
pollution.
Annoyed by the Lorax, the Once-ler insists on 'biggering' his operation; but even as
he speaks, the last Truffula tree is cut down, and the Thneed industry collapses.
Soon afterward, the Once-ler's family depart, and Lorax lifts himself from the region, leaving
behind a stone slab etched with the word "Unless".
The Once-ler, having related this story, realizes that the Lorax meant that unless someone cares,
the situation will not improve.
The Once-ler then gives the boy the last Truffula seed, and tells him to plant it, in the hope
of cultivating a forest to which "the Lorax, and all of his friends, may come back".
Reception Based on a 2007 online poll, the National
Education Association named the book one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".
It was one of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library
Journal.
In a retrospective critique written in the journal Nature in 2011 upon the 40th anniversary
of the book's publication, Emma Marris described the Lorax character as a "parody of a misanthropic
ecologist".
She called the book "gloomy" and doubted it was good for young children.
Nevertheless, she praised the book overall, and especially Seuss for understanding "the
limits of gloom and doom" environmentalism.
Controversy In 1988, a small school district in California
kept the book on a reading list for second graders, though some in the town claimed the
book was unfair to the logging industry.
Terri Birkett, a member of a family-owned hardwood flooring factory, authored The Truax,
offering a logging-friendly perspective to an anthropomorphic tree known as the Guardbark.
This book was published by the National Oak Flooring Manufacturers' Association.
Just as in The Lorax, the book consists of a disagreement between two people.
The logging industry representative states that they have efficiency and re-seeding efforts.
The Guardbark, a personification of the environmentalist movement much as the Once-ler is for big business,
refuses to listen and lashes out.
But in the end, he is convinced by the logger's arguments.
However, this story was criticized for what were viewed as skewed arguments and clear
self-interest, particularly a "casual attitude toward endangered species" that answered the
Guardbark's concern for them.
In addition, the book's approach as a more blatant argument, rather than one worked into
a storyline, was also noted.
The line "I hear things are just as bad up in Lake Erie" was removed more than fourteen
years after the story was published after two research associates from the Ohio Sea
Grant Program wrote to Seuss about the clean-up of Lake Erie.
The line remains in the home video releases of the television special.
On April 7, 2010, Amnesty International USA commented in their blog on the story of the
book that "amazingly parallels that of the Dongria Kondh peoples of Orissa" in India,
"where Vedanta Corporation is wrecking the environment of the Dongria Kondh people".
Adaptations 1972 television special
The book was adapted as an animated musical television special produced by DePatie-Freleng
Enterprises, directed by Hawley Pratt and starring the voices of Eddie Albert and Bob
Holt.
It was first aired by CBS on February 15, 1972.
A reference to pollution of Lake Erie was spoken by one of the Humming-Fish as they
depart; it remains in DVD releases of the show, although later removed from the book.
The special also shows the Once-ler arguing with himself, and asking the Lorax whether
shutting down his factory is practical.
An abridged version of the special is used in the 1994 TV movie In Search of Dr. Seuss,
with Kathy Najimy's reporter character hearing the Once-ler's story.
2012 feature film
On March 2, 2012, Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment released a 3-D CGI film based
upon the book.
The release coincided with the 108th birthday of Seuss, who died at 87 in 1991.
The cast includes Danny DeVito as the Lorax, Zac Efron as Ted, and Ed Helms as the Once-ler.
The film includes several new characters: Rob Riggle as villain O'Hare, Betty White
as Ted's Grammy Norma, and Taylor Swift as Audrey, Ted's romantic interest.
The film debuted in the #1 spot at the box office, making $70 million.
The film eventually grossed a domestic total of $214,030,500.
Audio books Two audio readings have been released on CD,
one narrated by Ted Danson in the United States and one narrated by Rik Mayall in the United
Kingdom.
See also Political messages of Dr. Seuss