Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8099 in VHS
• Released on: 1996-08-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 30 minutes

Amazon.com
This adaptation of the Dr. Seuss book about pollution and environmental damage may be a bit heavy for younger kids. But children age six and older, as well as adults, will find much to ponder in its story of capitalist greed gone amok. The Lorax is a creature that once lived in a beautiful paradise, populated by animals and trees. When Mr. Once-Ler comes along and starts cutting down trees to make the profitable (but useless) Thneeds , the Lorax voices concern, saying, "I speak for the trees! Let 'em grow! They say I'm old fashioned and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast." Mr. Once-Ler ignores the Lorax's warnings, and lives to regret it. Eventually, paradise has become a barren wasteland. All the trees are cut down; the factory has closed; the animals, birds, and fish have fled; and the air is polluted. Even the Lorax is gone. The fate of the Lorax is put in the hands of a young child at the end, when the chastened Once-Ler gives him the last tree seed, with the admonition: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing will change." The themes of capitalism, depletion of resources, and selfish affluence may be a bit heavy for kids under five, but with some parental guidance this makes for an educational and moving tale that can spark family discussions about the importance of respecting the wealth we all inherit from the natural world. --Elisabeth Keating

Customer Reviews

He speaks for the trees!
As fabulous as Dr. Seuss has always been, the story of the Lorax is the ultimate as far as I'm concerned in teaching our children the value of the environment and the threat that capitalist consumerism is to the beauty of the Earth that we love. When we look at some of the damage that grows exponentially through exploitation for profit all around us, the Lorax teaches us to be brave enough to take a stand, even if it is a frustrating, lonely one. I admire the Lorax. He speaks for the trees!

Great for teachers on Earth Day.
I am purchasing this video to use in my classroom to help introduce pollution and care for the earth and its creatures. While I concentrate this study to coordinate with Earth Day activities, it could be used at any level when an awareness of the environment is needed.

Just as charming as I remember
The environmentally conscious Lorax appears here in an expanded version of the Dr. Seuss book, where we see more about how the profit-minded Once-Ler destroyed the truffula trees. My kindergartener loved the book, and I happened across this tape at Wal-Mart in a bargain bin. Having seen it as a kid myself, it was a natural purchase. She's watched it eight times in three days, so it must have stood the test of time! The music is a bit dated, sure, but she won't care about that for a few years yet, and it's pure nostalgia for my wife and me. The story even strikes the correct balance between commercial interests and environmentalism: Just take care of nature while you're creating jobs, and all will be well. But if you don't.....yikes.

The forgotten story included here is about Pontoffel Pock, a loser of a young man who can't get his simple two-step job right and gets fired. He is given a magic piano so he can "get away from it all," and of course he fouls that up too, but eventually figures out how to rescue a damsel in distress. My little girl doesn't quite get the romance aspect of this story, but we both enjoy the fantasy. Not in the league of "The Lorax," but cute.