Horton Hears a Who! (2008) on Netflix
G20081h 26mAdventureAnimationComedy
Horton the Elephant hears a yelp from a floating speck of dust and believes microscopic creatures live on it. The Sour Kangaroo denies the Whos exist and demands he give it up.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.8/10160,062 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes79%
Trailer
Plot summary
A tiny yelp from a floating speck of dust reaches Horton the Elephant in the Jungle of Nool, and he becomes convinced that microscopic creatures live on it. After placing the speck on a flower, he learns that it holds Whoville, where Mayor Ned McDodd has a wife, Sally, 96 daughters and a son, JoJo. Once Horton carries the speck, the city experiences strange phenomena, and the Mayor's attempts to caution Whoville are challenged by the Town Council. When Horton and the Mayor make contact, Dr. Mary Lou LaRue tells the Mayor that Whoville will be destroyed unless the speck is moved to a safer, more stable home. Horton and his friend Morton the mouse decide to carry it to Mt. Nool, but the Sour Kangaroo, who denies the Whos exist, demands he give it up.
In these lists: Coming to Netflix in October 2026 (US)
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After the critical and commercial failure of the 2003 film The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss's widow Audrey Geisel was so dissatisfied that she decided not to allow any more live-action feature films based on his work.
- Steve Martino, art director on Robots, and story consultant Jimmy Hayward built a model of Horton and some animation tests to showcase their design ideas to Geisel, who eventually agreed on "a seven-figure deal" for both the book and its predecessor Horton Hatches the Egg.
- Geisel was credited as an executive producer and gave the directors full access to her late husband's archives, including his original sketches, 3-D sculptures and even memos Dr. Seuss traded with Chuck Jones during production of the Grinch TV special.
- To keep Horton distinct from the mammoths Blue Sky had created for the Ice Age series, the animators had him stand and walk upright on two legs at times, in a way that made him look like "a fat man in an elephant suit".
- Geisel had personally requested that Jim Carrey voice Horton following his performance as the Grinch, which she liked despite her initial doubt about the casting.
- The film gave Jim Carrey his strongest opening for a film he starred in since Bruce Almighty, and the same was true of Steve Carell, his costar in both films.
