Review: 'The Lorax' is vibrant and touching

'The Lorax' leaps to life on big screen

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 'The Lorax' has a winningly whimsical Seussian spirit


• Zac Efron nicely voices Ted


• The movie is like a less original "WALL•E,"

() -- Chris Renaud, the codirector of "Despicable Me," turns the 1971 Dr. Seuss book into "The Lorax," a candy-colored feel-good anticonsumerist musical.

It's got a winningly whimsical Seussian spirit, though it could have used a pinch of his doggerel-driven anarchy. (Seuss' brilliantly playful language? Not there.) nicely voices Ted, a boy who wonders why there are no trees in Thneedville.

His foray outside the city walls leads him to the Once-ler (), a hipster who found a paradise of trees that look like furry lollipops, then cut them all down to get rich.

The movie is like a less original "WALL•E," but it's still vibrant and touching. B+

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