Horton Hatches the Egg

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Horton the elephant agrees to watch over lazy Maisie bird's egg while she vacations. Much later, after standing (and sitting) guard 100-percent faith-fully through rain and snow, Horton and ... Read allHorton the elephant agrees to watch over lazy Maisie bird's egg while she vacations. Much later, after standing (and sitting) guard 100-percent faith-fully through rain and snow, Horton and the egg are captured by three hunters and put in a circus. Coincidentally, Maisie happen t... Read allHorton the elephant agrees to watch over lazy Maisie bird's egg while she vacations. Much later, after standing (and sitting) guard 100-percent faith-fully through rain and snow, Horton and the egg are captured by three hunters and put in a circus. Coincidentally, Maisie happen to fly by just as the egg is about to hatch and demands that Horton give it back to her.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

685

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos10

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Top cast5

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Robert Clampett

Hunter
(voice)

Frank Graham

Narrator
(voice)
…

Kent Rogers

Horton
(voice)
…

Sara Berner

Mayzie
(voice)
(uncredited)
…

Mel Blanc

Animal
(voice)
(uncredited)
…

Director
- Robert Clampett
Writers
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
This was the very first time a Dr. Seuss book was adapted for animation.

Goofs
Horton the elephant appears to start out as pink, then changes to purple, then back to pink. This is mainly because of the lighting. Whenever the scene is darker, he appears purple.

Quotes
Narrator: Then out of the wagon and on to a ship, out over the ocean, and oooh, what a trip!
Peter Lorre fish: [Sees Horton the Elephant sitting on a tree in a ship] Well, now I've seen everything!
[Shoots himself]
Narrator: Rolling and tossing and splashed with a spray, but Horton said day after day after day:
Horton: I meant what I said and I said what I meant, but... ooomph! I am sea-sick one hundred percent!

Alternate versions
Was re-released as a Blue Ribbon reissue removing the opening credits. While the opening credits are considered lost, the original title card artwork has been recovered.

Connections
Edited into In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994)

Soundtracks
The Hut-Sut Song
(uncredited)
Written by Leo Killion, Ted McMichael, and Jack Owens
Sung by Horton toward the beginning and at the end

User reviews10

Review

Featured review

9/10

An improved version of the Dr. Seuss story

Directed by Bob Clampett and scripted by the great Warner Brothers storyman Michael Maltese, this animated version is very faithful to the 1940 story about Horton the earnest elephant, but has a few added embellishments. Call it an irreverent version for adults.

The story begins with a lazy mother bird who longs to go on vacation. She needs to attract Horton so he'll sit on her egg for her. So she pushes her stomach upwards to give herself really big ...

Horton keeps the egg warm during a torrential storm -- that's in Seuss -- getting submerged and nearly drowning -- that's in Clampett.

Three hunters discover Horton perched on the egg and aim straight at his heart. Only in this version it's Horton's jumbo-sized posterior they actually get in their sights. In Seuss, the hunters are gentlefolk nattily done up in bowties; in Clampett, they're coiffed in a style more befitting Yosemite Sam.

Horton is captured and taken across the sea to be exhibited in New York. The sight of Horton at sea is so startling that a fish, who looks and sounds just like Peter Lorre, shoots himself in the head.

Dr. Seuss's story ends happily, with Horton returned safely to his jungle home. Clampett's story also ends happily, with Horton earning big money for promoters.

The Warners team succeeded in reproducing Dr. Seuss's distinctive artistic style but added a full range of colour to his limited palette. A couple of scenes also have what appear to be watercolour backgrounds -- very nice. A little added touch to an already beautiful-looking, one-of-a-kind cartoon.