Last week I caught the trailer for Illumination Entertainment’s latest contribution to the animation world – The Lorax. When I heard that this film was being done, I wasn’t really happy about it as I love that old Dr. Seuss story and didn’t want to see Hollywood destroy it. However, this trailer did a lot to assuage my fears and give me hope that this could be something spectacular even! The only problem is that my apprehensions were lessened because I just saw the whole movie. Anyway, without further ado, please enjoy this trailer for The Lorax:
First of all, I think the style they chose to pitch it with is fascinating. It comes off somewhere between the poignant quirkiness and social consciousness of Wall•E and the typical silliness that Illumination Entertainment usually puts out. They seem to be pitching it: as that fun, family film that all can enjoy, as the “ironic” indie film that all Hipsters will like before it becomes mainstream, AND as an environmental justice film that we should all take a lesson from. All that to say, I see what they are doing (marketing to a diverse audience) and I kinda like it! It is weird but I like it.
The first 20 seconds are Gold. Instantly we know that this has to be a Dr. Seuss story because of the characteristic rhyme (which DeVito reads perfectly). We are introduced to the world and given a good idea of the style of the film very quickly. This is also where the indie music begins to kick in, again reinforcing the overall style of the flick.
After that we get a great introduction to the two main characters, voiced by heartthrob T.Swift and even BIGGER heartthrob – Zefron! At first I was weary of casting the romantic leads as such because, to me, Efron is always connected to being a High Schooler and so I thought we had a weird age gap there. However, to my surprise, Zefron is actually 2 years older than Ms. Swift, so that’s taken care of.
Anyway, we get a clear picture of what the problem is: The Plot is shown here….I mean the trees aren’t around anymore. That was basically the biggest problem with the trailer – we saw all three acts and most of the stuff in between. No, they didn’t show us the ending, but we saw him discover the problem, leave to go find a solution, return and face obstacles, keep trying to overcome, be GIVEN THE LAST SEED, and ultimately I feel like I just watched a wonderful short film. This is exactly what I preach against on this blog: I do not want the plot spoiled before I get to the theatre. Why would I pay $11.50 to go see what I just did for free on Youtube? Honestly, that is why I titled this post as I did. I wish they would have cut it down a lot more so I didn’t have to see the entire film in 2 minutes. Now I have no real reason to go see it… Well…actually I do.
What the trailer does to redeem itself is it promotes the great sense of humor the filmmakers have. The jokes in this trailer are really funny and are well crafted in the editing to sell me on going, if for nothing else then, for the hilarity I know will be there. The editor did a great job of crafting the action in the trailer to fit the music, particularly in the scene where Ted arrives at the Once-ler’s house. They really accentuate the great lines from Zefron and Danny DeVito – whom I think they casted perfectly. Honestly, the reason I am going to see this film is because of gags like the one after the Title slide (“That’s a woman!?”). It just look really funny and I can’t wait to see what they do to a priceless story.
Two more reasons I am actually excited about this film because of what I see in this trailer:
First, I am looking forward to meeting Edna Mode’s brother, the mayor of town 🙂
Second, THERE ARE NO MINIONS IN THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!! I love that gambit – it is funny – but Illumination has WAY overplayed that bit. They were really funny in Despicable Me, but by the time that Hop rolled around and Arthur Christmas jumped on the bandwagon, the joke got real old real fast. Now, they might try to sneak them in somewhere (those bears certainly might end up in that role) but as of now I anticipate a Minion-free film.
Overall, I thought this was a decent trailer. It did a great job of showing me that this film would probably be worth my time if I went to see it in theaters, yet it did so by showing me the whole film. I am excited about it and really looking forward to catching this flick with my family and friends when it comes out next March.
Final Rating: 3//5
Yup! There you go! I am really curious to see how this film will turn out in the box office – will fans of the out-of-nowhere animation company flock to see another Seussian tale or will nostalgia for the old handdrawn TV Special cut this films’ profits and ratings? Not really sure yet but I am curious as to what you think. Let me know in the comments below!
I thought I knew which trailer I was going to review next week, but then this guy in sunglasses came by and had me look at this little thing that flashed really bright and I can’t really remember what it is now. There was something about him that struck me…..he was dressed in all Black… I don’t know. See you guys next week!
The Art of the Trailer 