Book Vs. Movie "The Lorax" (2012) with Taylor Swift & Zac Efron

Book Vs. Movie: The Lorax

The Dr. Seuss 1971 Children’s Book Vs. the 2012 Adaptation

The Margos close out “Banned Books Month” with a visit with Dr. Seuss and The Lorax, a tale of environmental conservation and the dangers of rampant deforestation. Theodore Seuss Geisel was known for his colorful characters, accusations of racism, and having some of his books pulled for outdated notions or controversial take on capitalism.

The Lorax (first published in 1971) was written after a recent trip to Africa where Geisel and his wife were concerned about the environment and wildlife in danger of extinction. The Lorax wants “The Onceler” to stop the destruction of the environment. Over the years, many logging companies tried to get the book banned for being “mean” to their industry. So much so that in 1995, two different forest/wood flooring industries raised funds to create their own version called Truax, which supported the logging industry. (Seriously)

There was a 1972 faithful adaptation starring Eddie Albert, but in this episode, we discuss the 2012 film starring Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, and Ed Helms. It’s filled with lots of music and rare mentions of the actual book. We have THOUGHTS about this one!

In this ep, the Margos discuss:

The life and work of Dr. Suess
The inspiration for The Lorax.
The reasons schools ban his work.
The differences between the book and movie
The cast of the 2012 film: Danny DeVito (The Lorax,) Ed Helms (The Onceler,) Zac Efron (Ted Wiggins,) Taylor Swift (Audrey,) Rob Riggle (Alyosis O’Hare,) Jenny Slate (Mrs. Wiggins,) Betty White (Grammy Norma,) Nasim Pedrad (Isabella,) Stephen Tobolowsky (Uncle Ubb,) Elamrie Wendel (Aunt Grizelda,) Danny Cooksy (Brett & Chet,) Joel Swetow, Michael Beattie, and Chris Renaud.