With an all-star cast of voices, brilliant visuals and a great message, “The Lorax” is an entertaining return to a classic Dr. Seuss tale.

Ted (Zac Efron) is a young boy who’s searching for the one thing – a tree – that will help him win the affections of Audrey (Taylor Swift). But in the town of Thneed-ville, everything is artificial, and all the trees are long gone, or so it seems.

Ted travels outside of the walled city at the suggestion of his Grammy Norma (Betty White) to find the Once-ler (Ed Helms), an old hermit. The Once-ler agrees to tell Ted the story of what happened to the trees if he continues to visit him, which Ted agrees to even after he is confronted by the mayor of Thneed-ville, Mr. O’ Hare (Rob Riggle), who tells him he can’t go outside the city.

Over the course of the visits, Ted learns the story of the Lorax (Danny Devito), a small orange creature who fights to protect the environment. The Once-ler eventually gives Ted the last Truffula tree seed and Ted becomes determined to plant the seed in the middle of town to help remind the people of Thneed-ville about the importance of the environment.

The voice casting for “The Lorax” is perfect, with Devito probably being the most entertaining choice. He provides the voice for the titular Lorax and helps imbue the character with loads of energy and comedy. Riggle does a great job as the antagonistic mayor. But with such a huge cast of big names from the entertainment industry, the movie didn’t really impress me as much as I’d hoped it would’ve.

The musical numbers, while slightly catchy, are mostly forgettable. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the film was the almost total absence of the original lilting rhymes from the book. While it would be difficult and probably weird to have the same style from the original story in a full length movie, I still would’ve appreciated a little bit more of it in the script.

The visuals weren’t exactly stunning, but they did manage to pop off the screen with some vibrancy and quite a bit of color. The stark contrast between the painfully artificial Thneed-ville and the barren wasteland that lay beyond its borders helped to reinforce the underlying message of environmental conservation. This apocalyptic wasteland and the journeys that Ted has in it help to show the strengths of the 3D animation.

When it comes to films about the environment, it’s very easy to start preaching at the audience through the script, but “The Lorax” manages to avoid this pitfall. While the underlying message of Nature v. Business is loud and clear, it’s not presented in an annoying way.

With a worthwhile story, decent humor and vibrant visuals, “The Lorax” is an entertaining family film that won’t disappoint audiences of any age.

4 out of 5 reels

Luke Bohannon