This is the most faithful Seuss adaptation to a full-length motion picture.  It’s not a bad film by any means, it doesn’t develop a clear interpretation of the original text.  Jim Carey’s Horton the Elephant is playful, compassionate—an altogether benign deity figure to the Whos, living on their speck.  Whoville is, of course, envisioned as a suburban Pleasantville—the way each adaptation sees its Seuss world.  Here, the Mayor (Steve Carrell) loves submitting budgets and explaining vetoes, but it shut out by the city council, who slams a fishbowl over him when reporting bad news.  As first, Horton seems to argue for the Unitary Executive who can act on his gut to protect the citizens from harm.  Then the voices are heard—the Civil Rights metaphor rises up.  The metaphysical angle is awkward as well; Horton plays God for them, but with the wit of a Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster.